Most of the White House press room can’t be bothered to ask tough questions, and they certainly can’t be bothered to ask tough follow-ups. Fox News’ Peter Doocy is the exception, and he left Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre fumbling through her cheat sheets with a perfect question on illegal immigration.
The setup is that world-class tennis player Novak Djokovic has been denied entry into the United States in August of 2022. Yes, apparently, foreign travelers are still banned from entering the country if they haven’t been vaccinated against the coronavirus. That despite mountains of data showing and numerous admissions from even the most dedicated COVID hysterics that the vaccines do not stop the spread of the virus.
Doocy took that and asked Jean-Pierre on Monday why the administration is barring Djokovic but allows illegal immigrants who are unvaccinated to enter the interior of the country. Not only did she have no answer, but she also got so flustered that she walked into a rhetorical door.
I find it incredibly funny to see Jean-Pierre flail about the moment she goes off script and strays from her magic binder. Doocy is obviously correct that illegal immigration is driven by those who are quite literally simply walking across the border. Jean-Pierre, not having a prepared answer ready, walks into the obvious trap, asserting that’s not happening when that’s exactly what’s happening.
It gets worse toward the end, though, when after being further pressed by Doocy, Jean-Pierre returns to her binder to read a pre-scripted response about what the administration has supposedly done on border security (which is basically nothing). But Doocy wasn’t even asking about border security. He was asking about the nonsensical COVID regulations that punish healthy, legal travelers like Djokovic while allowing masses of illegal immigrants that aren’t vaccinated to be released into the interior of the country. Jean-Pierre has no answer because there is no answer that could make that situation make sense.
Returning to her penchant to read pre-drafted answers, Jean-Pierre did the same thing regarding a question about the 13 servicemembers who died in Afghanistan last year due to Joe Biden’s incompetent withdrawal.
You’d think that an issue as serious as that would elicit at least some “from the heart” response from the press secretary. Instead, she treated it like another box-ticking exercise, returning to her binder yet again. It’s comical, but it’s also sad. This White House doesn’t care about anybody or anything that can’t help it politically. Nothing is genuine, and they see everything as a partisan issue to be batted away. Is that really what Americans want from their president? I’d suggest not, and Biden’s approval ratings don’t offer any counter-evidence.
