Once again, President Joe Biden’s cognitive deficiencies were on display, as on Wednesday he repeatedly looked for (and called out for) a congresswoman who was killed in an automobile accident last month — and once again, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had to walk back the president’s remarks.
Making the situation especially surprising was that the White House conference in which Biden was speaking had ties to the late congresswoman, Jackie Walorski. Also, a family memorial reception in her honor will take place at the White House in two days — an event Biden is scheduled to attend.
Biden went off script during his opening remarks at the conference, asking “multiple times” where the congresswoman was, according to the Daily Wire.
Wednesday’s conference celebrated the Hunger, Nutrition, and Health bill of which Walorski was a co-sponsor.
“Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” Biden said, scanning the audience for her. Some suggested the only thing worse would have been if Biden attempted to shake hands with an invisible presence.
Later in the day, reporters pelted Jean-Pierre with questions at her briefing. Curtis Houck, managing editor at Newsbusters tweeted the rough response to ABC’s Cecilia Vega’s question:
CURTIS-1
Vega asked: “What happened at the Hunger Event today? The president appeared to look around the room for an audience member, a member of Congress who passed away last month. Did he think she might be in the room? What happened there?”
Jean-Pierre took 45 seconds to say that Biden’s actions were understandable since “[Walorski] was on his mind; she was top of mind.”
Other reporters pressed Jean-Pierre, stating that even if Walorski was “top of mind,” it was shocking that the president did not remember she had passed away.
One reporter asked: “The confusing part is why, if she and the family is top of mind, does the President think that she’s living and in the room?”
Jean-Pierre appeared frazzled but stuck to her talking points:
“I don’t find that confusing,” Jean-Pierre explained, noting that Biden had recently spent time reviewing Walorski’s work so her name naturally came to mind while he was speaking at an event celebrating a bill she helped make possible.
One reporter quipped: “I have John Lennon top of mind just about every day, but I’m not looking around for him.”
A frustrated Jean-Pierre replied: “When you sign a bill for John Lennon as president, then we can have this conversation,” then moved the briefing on to another topic.
Jean Pierre has been sharply criticized for speaking much but saying little. Her propensity for evasive and “comic” answers was highlighted in a New York Post article titled, “Karine Jean-Pierre is a terrible White House press secretary.”
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