WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday refused to say whether First Lady Jill Biden is shielding her “work husband” Anthony Bernal from verbal sexual harassment allegations — while saying she respects Bernal and considers him a “friend.”

Jean-Pierre defended Bernal — widely regarded as one of the most powerful White House officials — when a Post reporter pressed her about a trio of sources saying Bernal repeatedly speculates on the penis sizes of coworkers in a #MeToo power play.

“I don’t know who your sources are so I can’t — just with all due respect — I can’t speak to that… I mean, they’re blind sources,” Jean-Pierre said during her regular briefing, before vouching for her colleague.

“What I can speak to is you saw a statement from our Chief of Staff Jeff Zients saying they are ‘unfounded.’ You saw a very strong statement from Anthony himself… and he said the same.”

Zients has dismissed allegations as “unfounded” — without investigating them.

Sources said Bernal’s vague title as Jill’s senior adviser belies his internal influence, which may exceed Zients’.

“I cannot speak to personnel investigations here or anything like that,” Jean-Pierre said.

“That is not something I will ever speak to. And I’m not saying there is one — I’m just saying that I will never, I cannot speak to that and that’s not something that I can do.”

Jean-Pierre added, “I have known Anthony for some time now. I’ve known him for more than a decade. I’ve worked closely with him. And I consider him a friend, but also a colleague that I respect. And that’s basically what you also heard from Jeffrey Zients. I just don’t have anything else to share beyond your reporting.”

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The Post’s reporter followed up: “I’ve got to press you on this, though, because the president said he would fire people for disrespecting colleagues and there’s no investigation.”

“I just said to you that they have said themselves, Jeffrey Zients and also Anthony Bernal, that they are unfounded. I can’t speak to your sources, those are your sources to speak to,” she replied.

“Does Bernal’s special status come from the first lady shielding him, as some sources believe?” The Post asked directly.

“I’ve answered the question. I’ve answered the question,” Jean-Pierre replied, though she had not, in fact, answered the question

“Anthony Bernal spoke for himself. You heard from our chief of staff — our chief of staff, and [he] gave your publication a statement obviously — and you’ve heard from me. I don’t have anything else to share.”

The Post pressed again, “Is that going to have a chilling effect, though, on people who suffer sexual harassments or bullying?”

“I don’t have anything else to share on that,” Jean-Pierre replied.

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ACCUSERS: WH STAFF FEAR FIRST LADY’S WRATH

Sources who made allegations against Bernal told The Post they were repulsed by her defense.

One of Bernal’s accusers said that Jean-Pierre’s statements were “disgusting” and indicated that “Karine Jean-Pierre and the White House [are] officially endorsing sexual harassment and abusive behavior.”

“Sexual harassment is OK in the Biden White House if you’re Jill Biden’s work husband. [It’s] chilling for other victims of sexual harassment,” the former Bernal colleague said.

“There’s also a weird gender dynamic. If Anthony was targeting women, he would be gone.”

“Karine is in a tough position, as is Jeff, but it’s a position that the first lady has put them in,” said another source who has worked with Bernal.

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“They’re doing this at gunpoint for the same reason the dozens of those current and former colleagues go to the press instead of to an actual supervisor — they want to keep their jobs. Everyone lives in fear, including Zients and KJP, because Bernal is protected by Jill.”

The source added that “everyone who works there empathizes with [Jean-Pierre and Zients] for the position they’re being put in. Nobody really wants to publicly defend Anthony Bernal because his reputation and behavior are so widely accepted that public statements defending him are never viewed as credible.”

That source added: “I hope Joe Biden gets another four years just so Jill can have a redo as first lady and hopefully hire professionals with experience in executing an agenda, which most previous first ladies had… She protects and enables the most serial harasser and abuser, Anthony Bernal, just because he’s indispensable as a personal aide. No one understands it.” “

A third source said, “This isn’t the kind of White House Joe Biden claims to run.”

“Complaints made by multiple people should be taken seriously and investigated, not papered over and swept under the rug just because the abusive person is close to the first lady. This reaction tells every person in the building: take the abusive behavior and keep quiet,” that source said.

The Post exclusively reported on the mounting tensions over Bernal’s conduct last month.

Four sources alleged that Bernal inappropriately speculated in the workplace about the sexuality of colleagues, three described instances where he spoke in the workplace about the presumed penis sizes of coworkers and two said he shared a theory that the size of a person’s thumb correlates with the length of their penis.

Louise Fitzgerald, a professor emerita at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who has served as an expert in high-profile federal court cases on sexual harassment, told The Post last month that Zients’ brush-off was a red flag and that the allegations do indeed describe workplace misconduct.

“Harassment happens most often in workplaces in which, whatever the policy may say, employees perceive that sexual harassment is not taken seriously, it is risky to complain, and there are no meaningful consequences to the perpetrator,” Fitzgerald said.