WH press sec left silenced when reporter corrects her for claiming migrants are not walking across border: 'That’s exactly what’s happening!'



White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was silenced on Monday when confronted over the Biden administration's contradictory COVID-19 vaccine policies.

What is the background?

Tennis superstar Novak Djokovic announced last week that he would not compete in this year's U.S. Open because he is not vaccinated for COVID-19.

Currently, the U.S. prohibits non-U.S. citizens from flying into the U.S. if they are not vaccinated for COVID.

"Non-U.S. citizen, non-U.S. immigrants: You must show proof of being fully vaccinated with the primary series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine before you board your flight to the United States. Only limited exceptions apply," read guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What happened with KJP?

At the White House press briefing, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked the obvious question: Why is Djokovic prohibited from briefly entering the U.S. to play in a tennis tournament, but unvaccinated migrants are allowed to enter the U.S. at the southern border?

"How come migrants are allowed to come into this country unvaccinated, but world-class tennis players are not?" he asked.

At first, Jean-Pierre deflected and referred Doocy to question the CDC, absolving the White House — which runs the executive branch, under which the CDC falls — of responsibility, but Doocy pressed harder.

"They’re two different things," Jean-Pierre claimed.

"How is it two different things?" Doocy pressed. "Somebody unvaccinated comes over on a plane; you say that’s not okay. Somebody walks into Texas or Arizona unvaccinated; they’re allowed to stay. Why?"

08/29/22: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre youtu.be

The press secretary proceeded to claim "that’s not how it works" and that migrants are not pouring into the U.S. through the southern border.

"It’s not like somebody walks over and — that’s not — that’s not how —" Jean-Pierre said before Doocy interjected.

"That’s exactly what’s happening!" Doocy fired back. "Thousands of people are walking in a day. Some of them turn themselves over. Some of them are caught; tens of thousands a week are not. That is what is happening."

Doocy's sharp response left Jean-Pierre in silence. When she finally responded, she dodged the premise of Doocy's question altogether and instead praised President Joe Biden for the actions he has allegedly taken to address the border crisis.

When Doocy asked one final time about the CDC vaccine requirement for people who fly to the U.S., as opposed to entering on foot, Jean-Pierre steered the exchange toward Title 42 before turning to the next reporter.

For what it is worth, Title 42 does not mandate that migrants be vaccinated for COVID, but it permits the government to refuse migrants entry to stop the spread of disease.

Anything else?

Bill Melugin, a Fox News reporter who has spent considerable time reporting on the border crisis, confirmed that people do, in fact, freely walk across the border.

"Colleague @pdoocy is 100% correct. That is exactly what is happening at the border," Melguin wrote on Twitter. "Not sure how many more videos we have to show, multiple times a day, to get this point across. And that doesn’t even account for the more than half a million gotaways who slipped thru since 10/1."

\u201cCade and point \ud83d\udc47\ud83c\udffb\nThis happens EVERY single day, multiple times a day in Eagle Pass alone. One tiny spot on the border. Yes, they do just walk across by the hundreds. A large majority of them in Del Rio sector are then released. It is that simple.\n\nhttps://t.co/EgLbmVN1el\u201d
— Bill Melugin (@Bill Melugin) 1661804908

Doocy puts Jean-Pierre on defense after White House has a gas over $4 per gallon prices: 'Why is the president bragging?'



White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday said that teachers, nurses, and firefighters should be relieved that gas is $4.11 per gallon, celebrating the fact that prices at the pump have fallen since reaching record highs earlier this summer.

During Friday's press briefing, Jean-Pierre noted that gas prices are declining at the fastest rate in over a decade. Since mid-June, prices have fallen about 83 cents per gallon and as of Friday the national average retail price for a gallon of gasoline was $4.11, according to the American Automobile Association.

But Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy challenged the White House narrative, noting that prices are still nearly $2 more expensive than when Biden assumed office in January, 2021.

"Why is the president bragging today about gas prices?" Doocy asked.

"Because it's gone down," Jean-Pierre answered curtly.

"It's still $1.72 higher than when he took office," Doocy replied.

Unfazed, Jean-Piere told Doocy, "it has come down in a way that we haven't seen its trajectory coming down in over a decade."

\u201c.@pdoocy: Why is Biden bragging about gas prices?\n\nKJP: Because it's gone down.\n\nDoocy: It's still $1.72 higher than when he took office.\u201d
— Media Research Center (@Media Research Center) 1659725894

But Doocy noted that average gas prices are still more than $4 per gallon. "Is that good?" he asked.

"Okay, you want to talk to a nurse, or a teacher, or a firefighter if having that little bit of breathing room doesn't matter to them," Jean-Pierre replied.

Incredulous, Doocy asked, "Are nurses and teachers and firefighters saying gas prices are only $4.11, this is great!"

Jean-Pierre was undeterred. "I'm saying even that little bit of breathing room matters to families, especially during the summer when people are traveling, when people are trying to do what they can for their families, when people are trying to think about, 'what are we going to do with our kids? Drive them to camp? Drive them to see other family members across the country?'

"This matters. When you think about 85 cents per month for family members, you think that doesn't matter for everyday Americans?," she said, appearing to misspeak. She likely meant to say that gas prices have fallen 83 cents per gallon over the past month.

"That matters and the reason we're seeing that is because of the work that this president has done this last several months," she continued.

"To say that the changes, the drop that we have seen at the pump per gallon doesn't matter, I think that is wrong, I think that is not true, and I think that does give a little bit of space, breathing room for families. And I think that is important."

Jean-Pierre insists that Biden is not 'finishing' Trump's wall when Doocy asks about plan to close border wall gaps in Arizona



White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday repeatedly insisted that the Biden administration is not finishing President Donald Trump's border wall, even though the administration said it will complete unfinished gaps of wall in Arizona.

Yesterday, the Department of Homeland Security announced that four wide gaps in the border wall near the Morelos Dam in the Yuma sector will be completed using funding from the agency's 2021 budget. The decision to complete the project comes after President Joe Biden halted border wall construction upon assuming office and vowed that not a "single foot" of new wall would be built during his time in the White House.

So on Friday, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre about the obvious reversal in Biden's policy at the daily White House press briefing

"Why is the Biden administration building a border wall in Arizona?" Doocy asked.

"We are not finishing the wall. We are cleaning up the mess the prior administration left behind in their failed attempt to build a wall," Jean-Pierre said.

She emphasized that the Biden administration returned $8 billion that the Trump administration had diverted from the Department of Defense to fund wall construction.

"We gave that back to the military for military families, for schools, for bases. That's what that money was being used — that's what it was taken away from," she said, neglecting to address the question.

"But President Biden, when he was a candidate, said that 'there will not be another foot of wall constructed in my administration.' So what changed?" Doocy followed up.

"We are not finishing the wall," the press secretary insisted.

Doocy tried another approach with his questions.

"If walls work in that part of Arizona, is this the administration trying to get migrants to cross somewhere else, like in Texas? What is the plan?"

Jean-Pierre repeated her previous answer before adding, "we are trying to save lives."

"By finishing the wall, is this —" Doocy began before Jean-Pierre cut him off.

"We are not finishing the wall," she said.

"By filling in? Finishing?" Doocy probed, searching for a word to describe how a previously uncompleted section of physical barrier at the southern border will now be completed under Biden's directive.

"We are not finishing the wall," Jean-Pierre said for the fifth time.

"By filling in the wall, is this racist? Because in 2019, when the former guy was proposing a wall, you said that it was this racist wall. So how is this any different?" Doocy asked.

"I'm not even sure how you get to your first question to this question that you just asked me. I will say this, a border wall ... is ineffective use of taxpayer dollars," Jean-Pierre said. She went on to repeat for the sixth time that the Biden administration is not "finishing" the wall and that it is "cleaning up the mess that the last administration made."

\u201c.@pdoocy destroys the Biden Admin's hypocrisy for building a border wall in AZ.\n\nKJP: We're not finishing the wall. We're fixing the mess of the previous Admin\n\nDoocy: So by filling in the wall, is this racist? You said it was when Trump did it.\u201d
— MRCTV (@MRCTV) 1659120001

DHS explained Thursday that the Biden administration is finishing the border wall in the Yuma sector to "address operational impacts, as well as immediate life and safety risks."

The area where there are gaps in the wall has become among the most highly trafficked crossings by illegal immigrants at the southern border.

DHS is concerned that migrants attempting to cross the border at Morelos Dam are at risk of falling and drowning in the Colorado River. There is also a hazard for Border Patrol agents responding to incidents in the area.

Finishing the wall at the Yuma Morelos Dam Project will hopefully redirect migrants to a safer point of entry where they can be processed for asylum claims or deported after they enter into U.S. custody.

Jen Psaki says Fox News' Peter Doocy 'sounds like a stupid son of a b****' because of Fox News



White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Peter Doocy — Fox News' White House correspondent — sometimes sounds like a "stupid son of a b****" because of his network.

In January, President Joe Biden was caught on a hot mic calling Doocy a "stupid son of a b****" after Doocy asked the president if inflation could be a "political liability" when it came time for midterm elections.

What are the details?

During a Tuesday appearance on popular podcast "Pod Save America," podcast co-host Dan Pfeiffer asked Psaki whether she believes Doocy is, indeed, a "stupid son of a b***" or if she thinks he just plays one on TV.

"He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b****," Psaki responded.

She later added, however, that Doocy responded to Biden's gaffe with class when discussing it with Fox News' Sean Hannity in January.

"Sean Hannity asked him about the, you know, what the president had said, and what he said back — and he could have been like, 'He's a son of a b****,' or 'I'm standing up for whatever,' — he could have said anything," Psaki said. "And instead he said, 'You know, he called me. We had a really nice conversation. I'm just asking my questions. He's doing his job.' So I will say that was a moment of grace. You don't have to like everything Peter Doocy says or does, but that is certainly a moment of grace by Peter Doocy."

Fox News anchor — and former White House correspondent — John Roberts spoke out in defense of Doocy later on Friday.

“Note to @PressSec . @pdoocy makes the decisions on what topics he wants to quiz you on, and develops the questions himself,” Roberts tweeted. “His philosophy is a basic tenet of journalism. Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable. If that makes all of us ‘stupid s.o.b.s’, so be it.”

A Fox News spokesperson defended Doocy in a statement provided to the Washington Post.

“In his role as White House correspondent, Peter Doocy’s job is to elicit truth from power for the American public,” the spokesperson told the Post. “His questions are his own, he is a terrific reporter, and we are extremely proud of his work.”

Psaki is expected to leave her position as the Biden White House press secretary in the coming weeks in order to take on a new role at MSNBC.

Jen Psaki is asked if Biden will apologize to Kyle Rittenhouse for tying him to white supremacists — and she leaps into spin mode, points finger at Trump



Part of a White House press secretary's job is using spin and deflection in order to avoid answering uncomfortable questions.

Jen Psaki is as good at it as any of her predecessors, and given President Joe Biden's failures and myriad of problems throughout his first year in office, she's gotten quite a bit of practice.

And the Psaki spin-fest was revved up into high gear Tuesday when Fox News' Peter Doocy asked if Biden will "ever apologize to the acquitted Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse for suggesting online and on TV that he is a white supremacist?"

How did Psaki answer?

Check out Psaki's non-answer:

Well, let's be clear what we're talking about here. This is about a campaign video released last year that used President Trump's own words during a debate as he refused to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. And President Trump, as we know from history and as many of you covered, didn't just refuse to condemn militia groups on the debate stage, he actively encouraged them throughout his presidency. So ... what we've seen are the tragic consequences of that when people think it's OK to take the law into their own hands instead of allowing law enforcement to do its job. And the president believes in condemning hatred, division, and violence. That's exactly what was done in that video.

By the way, Biden's campaign video she mentioned uses an image of Rittenhouse carrying his rifle as audio of Fox News' Chris Wallace, the debate moderator, runs over top asking then-President Donald Trump if he condemns white supremacists and militia groups. Here's the tweet:

There\u2019s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night.pic.twitter.com/Q3VZTW1vUV
— Joe Biden (@Joe Biden) 1601465700

"There's no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night," the tweet's accompanying text stated.

Doocy tried pushing back, arguing that Biden elsewhere incorrectly stated that Rittenhouse was part of a militia group and stating that Rittenhouse accused Biden of "actual malice" in his commentary.

But Psaki kept the spin going and turned her finger-pointing to the "Proud Boys and groups that [Rittenhouse] has posed in photos with. But beyond that I'll leave it to his comments around the verdict."

.@pdoocy: "Will the president ever apologize the Kyle Rittenhouse for suggesting that he is a white supremacist?"\n\nJen Psaki: It's Trump's fault.pic.twitter.com/0Uw0Oig1n6
— MRCTV (@MRCTV) 1637700425

Indeed, Biden's comments following Rittenhouse's trial didn't exactly come across as even-handed, as the president said he was "angry and concerned" over the not-guilty verdict. On Friday he also "declined to share whether he stands by an earlier suggestion that Rittenhouse is a white supremacist," Axios reported.

At the same time support has exploded for Rittenhouse to sue Biden, other elected officials, and media outlets for defamation.

How did folks react to Psaki's spin moves?

Commenters on Twitter were not fooled by the press secretary's words:

  • "She still cannot come out and admit it, of course," one Twitter commenter wrote. "And once again she essentially aligned Rittenhouse in a subtle way with the Proud Boys. Dancing around this issue."
  • "It's sad that half the US & half the world trust sick people like this," another user lamented.
  • "When will this party stand up and take responsibility and quit blaming others?" another commenter asked.
  • "She answered the question by not answering. OF COURSE NOT is the answer," another user declared. "Biden 'bout to make Kyle a filthy rich young man. SUE EVERYBODY, KYLE!"

'Bad faith my a**': Brit Hume defends Fox News reporter challenging Joe Biden on contradictory pandemic messages



Veteran Fox News journalist Brit Hume slapped down criticism against his colleague after he challenged President Joe Biden about his contradictory messaging on the coronavirus pandemic.

Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Biden in a media briefing Monday to explain why his messaging had so drastically changed after the election.

"So you just said that you think, that within three weeks or so, we'll be at the point where there are a million vaccines per day," Doocy said, "but it seems like..."

"No I think we'll get there before that," interrupted Biden, "I misspoke, I hope we'll able to increase as we go along, until we get to the million five [thousand] a day, that's my expectation, my hope."

"And then, the followup to that would be, alright, now that you're president and you're saying, 'There's nothing we can do to change the trajectory in the next several months,'" Doocy continued. "What happened to two months ago when you were talking declaratively, about, 'I am going to shut down the virus'?"

"Well I am gonna shut down the virus, I never said I would do it in two months!" Biden responded.

"I said it took a long time to get here, it will take a long time to beat it," he explained. "And so we have millions of people out there who have the virus."

Doocy faced some critics on social media who didn't like his question and accused him of acting in bad faith.

"Bad faith my a**," Hume responded.

Bad faith my a**. It led to Biden acknowledging that he misspoke, then proceeding to raise his oft-repeated vaccina… https://t.co/KJFKQdqVoY
— Brit Hume (@Brit Hume)1611616572.0

"It led to Biden acknowledging that he misspoke, then proceeding to raise his oft-repeated vaccination goal of 100 million after it had become clear we were already on the way to achieving that when he took office," he added. "So much for @PDoocy being there 'wasting time.'"

Hume was referring to a controversy surrounding a promise Biden made to vaccinate 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of his presidency. Some noted that the goal was already likely to be met under the rate of vaccinations achieved by the former Trump administration.

The Biden administration has also faced steep criticism for baseless accusations made against the previous administration. CNN ran with quotes from anonymous sources inside the administration claiming there was no system at all for implementing vaccines, but that claim was immediately disputed by none other than Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to Biden.

Here's the interaction between Doocy and Biden:

Fox News' Peter Doocy grills Biden over his vaccine plan, messaging on COVIDwww.youtube.com