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Press Secretary Karine Jean- Pierre went single for Thursday’s White House press lecture, so she shouldered all the questions, including the Middle East and the business. Fox News ‘ Jacqui Heinrich and Fox Business ‘ Edward Lawrence criticized the administration’s use of Jim Carey to deny persistently high inflation, and it was on this latter subject that she was subjected to the gauntlet.
Lawrence cut to the chase with a terrible inflation fact- test:  ,” ]Y ] esterday in the Rose Garden, the President said that when he came into office, prices was skyrocketing, but it was 1.4 percentage in January of 2021 and that was the 11th consecutive quarter at that time under two percent. But, it was the President false Americans”?
Unsurprisingly, Jean- Pierre refused to engage and rather doubled down about prices having taken off that, when Biden took office, the nation was” a epidemic” that “was closing down businesses, closing down schools, uh, and therefore, it was greatly disrupting the supply chain” followed by the war in Ukraine.
Lawrence did n’t buy it:” But the President did n’t say the supply chain was being disrupted. He said inflation was skyrocketing”.
Jean- Pierre doubled down on the dishonesty, leaving Lawrence to ask a third and final time if Biden’s really “being honest” with Americans ( click “expand” ):
JEAN- PIERRE: But that’s what he was referring to, right? That’s what was going on. Those were the things that were just beginning to occur. When he took office, schools were closed, or most of schools were closed, businesses were closing, and we had a supply chain that was disrupted. The pandemic took thousands of lives a day. And so the President spoke to and laid out, and as a result, inflation increased even more as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
LAWRENCE: But… the Fed’s supply chain measure actually went down in — in November at that time. So — so is the President being honest about inflation?
JEAN- PIERRE: The President has said — what he said what he saw when he was — when he took — when he took office. The pandemic was happening, right? It strang the supply chain. We know, you know what happens when the supply chain is disrupted. You are aware of what that leads to. And so, that’s what he was speaking to, and not only did we witness a war in Ukraine that Mr. Putin was putting forth against Ukraine that he was putting forth. So the president was forced to take historic steps, including taking decisive steps in preventing disruption in the supply chain. He was forced to do so, and he continued to make decisions to lower costs by releasing a Strategic Petroleum Reserve so that we could deal with the supply chain. And that’s what we’ve seen, whether it’s health care costs, whether it’s dealing with junk fees, whether it’s prescription drugs, lowering those costs. The President took action in that regard. However, when the President took office, we were able to see what was going on. We did.
Former Chief of Staff Ron Klain allegedly claimed that President Biden should concentrate on raising the price of bridges rather than the rising costs Americans are paying.
Heinrich brought up the subject of the most recent Producer Price Index ( PPI ) statement after bringing it up:” We did n’t get any statement today on the PPI index. You know, why are n’t we hearing more about the problems people are having at grocery stores and paying rent from the White House?
In his prepared response, Jean-Pierre cited the State of the Union as evidence that Biden has “made very clear about what the Americans are facing and he has talked about lowering costs at almost every event he’s had.”
She concluded by mentioning the fact that Klain still supports Biden and the formulaic lies about Republicans wanting to end entitlements, along with listing five different events where an aspect of the economy came up.
Heinrich’s other economic question concerned the Federal Reserve, asking,” Is it inappropriate for the President to make a comment on what the Fed might or might not do with interest rate cuts?”
Jean- Pierre went down the’ but, Trump ‘ route by claiming Biden has “giv]en ] the Fed the space to make independent decisions” “unlike the last]President ]”.
Heinrich did, however, first ask about Iran:
JACQUI TIME:” I just wanted to clarify one of your earlier answers. Did Iran receive a clear warning from the administration to avoid attacking Israel?
KJP:” We’ve been very clear. I — I’ve — we’ve been — I mean, you heard from the President — right— and laid out our commitment to… pic. twitter.com/1ZF0W2QdFC
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck ) April 11, 2024
In another instance, CNN’s Kayla Tausche strayed from Team Biden’s lionization of the most recent state dinner with the Japanese Prime Minister to criticize Jean-Pierre for the ethical hypocrisy of inviting Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos when “regulators in the Biden administration have sued both Amazon and Apple, alleging anti-competitive behavior that has caused public harm.
Jean-Pierre attempted to meander about the necessity of “bipartisanship” and inviting various different types of people to state dinners with another mangled mess and insult to the English language, but Tausche once again stressed the contradiction:
The Justice Department claimed less than a month ago that Apple uses its control of the iPhone to carry out a broad, sustained, and unlawful course of action, and that the lawsuit should send a strong message to other businesses. What signal is the White House sending?
Jean- Pierre maintained a comical wall of separation between the White House and Justice Department, but Tausche pointed out the administration still” invite]d ] them to dinner” and it would seem to show Biden” does n’t think that those companies did anything wrong.”
And, from the left, The Independent‘s Andrew Feinberg provided the anti- Israel side of things by lecturing Jean- Pierre and the administration that” respectfully, “it’s” not true” that Biden” is doing everything he can on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza”.
His second question, which he posed, was even more satirical because he claimed that Republican presidential candidates interfere with elections and national security when challenging an incumbent Democrat ( click “expand” ):
FEINBERG: Earlier this week, the former President met with Lord Cameron, the British Foreign Secretary. He has, in recent weeks, met with Viktor Orbán, the leader of Hungary. He has said he’s spoken to Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia. There is a long history of Republican presidential candidates stifling their Democratic rivals by meddling in foreign policy. Is the administration concerned that this private citizen might be working against U.S. interests in the interests of his own political ones without getting into Hatch Act territory— you know, telling people to vote for or against someone?
JEAN- PIERRE: And you’re talking about his meeting specifically with —
FEINBERG: With — with foreign leaders: Lord Cameron, his talking with MBS, Viktor Orbán, and others possibly.
JEAN- PIERRE: So, look, a- — look, as it relates to other — other leaders and those types of meetings — specifically, let’s — let’s talk about David Cameron. The UK made a note earlier this week that it is typical for officials from other nations to meet with political party representatives. That includes the United States, where we frequently meet with political figures from various parties. For instance, we had a meeting with Yair Lapid, the leader of the Israeli opposition, yesterday at the start of the week.  , And so, it’s not uncommon. I am going to be really careful here, because you’re talking about a presidential candidate. I’m going to be really mindful. I used David Cameron as an example, but I’m going to be really mindful. I’m not speaking beyond that.  ,
To see the relevant transcript from the April 11 briefing, click here.
