THE White House East reject criticism after the press secretary Karine Jean Pierre abruptly ended an interview with a North Carolina radio station after one of the hosts asked if the president Joe Biden has “dementia“.
Ms. Jean-Pierre spoke with the director of information at 99.3 WBT Charlotte, Mark Garrison, Tuesday. Mr. Garrison later appeared on The Brett Winterble Show where he shared excerpts from the interview.
Mr. Garrison told the press secretary that several people had asked him to ask if Mr. Biden had “dementia”.
Ms Jean-Pierre said the question was “incredibly offensive”, adding that “I’m not even really going to… consider the premise of your question.” I think it’s incredibly insulting…we can move on to the next question.”
“How can Mr. Biden win votes when people don’t have as much disposable income? Mr. Garrison then asked, mentioning the rising prices of groceries and gasoline.
“The president understands,” she said. “He grew up in a working, middle-class family in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He understands. He understands how difficult it is for Americans who sit around their kitchen table every month trying to figure out what they’re going to pay. We must not forget that when the president entered this administration, multiple crises occurred.
“There was Covid-19, the economy was in free fall because of the last administration, because of what President Trump left us,” she argued. “Now you’re asking me about gas prices. The president took action on gas prices. Let’s not forget that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices skyrocketing.”
“Because the president has taken action, we see that we are in a different situation than we were a year ago when it comes to gas prices. Eggs, milk, seafood, all the important groceries, those costs have come down because of what this president has been able to do,” she added.
Ms. Jean-Pierre then ended the interview.
“And with that, thank you very much, Mark. Have an amazing, amazing day,” she said. A busy telephone tone could be heard on the radio broadcast after the press secretary ended the call.
The radio hosts seemed surprised at how the interview ended.
Mr. Winterble went on to tell Mr. Garrison: “I’m putting you forward to get a press corps badge, and you have to go to the White House.” »
“I’m sorry, but you asked three, four incredibly salient and important questions that are all on your mind,” he said, according to Fox News Digital. “Nothing forbidden. No ba-ba-booeying or anything like that, right? And you did it exactly right. I don’t understand the fragility of this person.
Mr. Garrison said it was the White House that contacted the radio station for the interview, adding: “I was supposed to spend more time with her and the fact that, all of a sudden, she deciding to hang up took me by surprise. surprised because I had a few questions that weren’t as controversial. But I’ll never get the chance to ask them, I guess.
Radio host Pete Kaliner noted that the entire interview lasted about six minutes.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement statement has news electrical outlets that “as she often does during the president’s trips, Karine had several interviews in quick succession with radio stations who were each offered 7 minutes. Once the agreed time had passed, she called for the next interview so that everyone could enjoy their full time.”
“This particular station chose not to air the entire interview and instead artificially attached a sound effect that our phones don’t play at the end of calls,” he said.