KJP dodges question on Biden’s mental health after he claimed to recently meet with long-dead French leader
White House press secretary Karine Jeanne Pierre on Tuesday issued a statement regarding President Biden’s mental and physical health after the president appeared to confuse French President Emmanuel Macron with French President François Mitterand, who has been dead for nearly 30 years. I dodged the question.
The gaffe occurred Sunday while campaigning in Las Vegas. The president recalled meeting with Macron at the G7 summit in the United Kingdom shortly after assuming the White House in 2021.
Presidential Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on February 6, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
However, Mr. Biden replaced Mr. Macron with the name of Mr. Mitterrand, who served as president of France from 1981 to 1995 and died in 1996.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy on Tuesday questioned how the president could win over millions of voters who are concerned about their mental and physical health after making these comments.
Jean-Pierre, clearly irritated, said to Doucy: “I’m not even going down the rabbit hole with you. We’ll move on.”
“What is a rabbit hole?” Doocy asked.
“You saw the president in Las Vegas, California. You saw the president in South Carolina. You saw the president in Michigan. I’ll leave it at that,” Jean-Pierre said.
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Later in the press conference, a reporter asked Jean-Pierre to respond to criticism that Biden has given far fewer interviews during his presidential term than his predecessor. The reporter noted that no press conference was scheduled during Biden’s invitation to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the president had no plans to give an interview during the Super Bowl.
“Again, we seem to be in a situation where the president is not communicating with the press,” the reporter said.
“Expect it. That’s the answer for you,” Jean-Pierre said, disputing the idea that the president isn’t interacting with the press.
The reporter countered by pointing out that President Biden has given less than half the number of interviews his predecessor did at this point in his presidency.
Jean-Pierre said the president is communicating in “nontraditional ways.” Jean-Pierre said the president doesn’t do Super Bowl interviews because he misses out on “a huge audience in an election year” and people “want to watch the game.”
“The president will find many other ways to communicate with the American people, millions of Americans,” Jean-Pierre said. “And we will find a way to do what we think is the right time.”