Since the start of the Hamas-instigated war with Israel, the Biden White House has not exactly covered itself in glory with how they've responded to it, first with Joe Biden himself essentially admitting he didn't find out about the terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians until after he'd rolled out of bed that day, and not getting much better from there.
Key members of his cabinet and staff who have been charged with putting a public face on the Biden administration's positions on the war have also been an embarrassment, among them White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who has repeatedly had to play clean up on statements she's made during the daily press briefings, including one where she bizarrely suggested there had been "no credible" antisemitic threats that they knew of in the United States.
It's only Tuesday and yet this week has already been a festival of fail for Jean-Pierre, starting with her refusal Monday on behalf of Joe Biden to condemn the Soros-funded pro-Hamas protests we've seen take place primarily in Democrat-run cities across the country, including right in front of the White House.
To make matters worse, during the Tuesday briefing, Jean-Pierre fielded what should have been an easy question for her to answer - on the rising incidents of Hamas hostage posters being ripped down - and yet again she refused to denounce it.
Transcript via Newsbusters' Managing Editor Curtis Houck:
NBC’s @PeterAlexander: “There’s been on social media and...on news broadcasts a lot of videos of individuals who have been tearing down signs, many of these taking place in New York City, of Israelis presently being held hostage in Gaza. There’s been some tense confrontations that have taken place there. Is there Whtie House’s view that these actions should be condemned, the pulling of — the pulling down of them? Or that that’s a form of peaceful protest?”
KJP: “Look, I — I’ve — I’ve sorta, kinda seen the reporting here and there. I think it was last week, right?”
Alexander: “There’s been, like, 30 million videos that have gone around of this, so it's very [inaudible].”
KJP: “No, I know. I know. I hear you. I hear you. I’m just not going to —”
Alexander: “Is it okay? Is it okay? Is that peaceful protest to pull that down or should you not be doing that?”
KJP: “— I’m just not going to go into specifics on that particular thing. What I can say: there are real violent protests and threats that are happening right now...That is something that we’re focused on, right?”
Watch:
In a follow-up question, she told Alexander she'd be glad to take the question directly to Biden to get his thoughts:
NBC's @PeterAlexander: “So, to be clear, it’s deeply concerning that people would be pulling these things down?”
KJP: “I’m just saying as it related a lot of reporting out there about violent protests and threats and so, I can speak to that. I can speak to how FBI is tracking an increased volume. I can speak to the frequency of threats that we’re seeing to Jewish community, to the Arab-American community, to the Muslim community in the United States since October 7...That is deeply concerning to us and, so, that is what we’re going to work on, focusing on that.”
Alexander: “I’d be grateful if you take the question, just to see if there’s a position the WH has on that, just for going forward b/c it’s created a lot of divide in this country right now, as it was appropriate?”
KJP: “I’m — I’m happy to. I’m happy to.”
Watch:
After the press briefing, Jean-Pierre took to the Twitter machine to again try to clean up the mess she made in response to Alexander's questions:
As a result of the Hamas terrorist attacks, communities and families are grieving. For the past month, the families of those who have been taken hostage have lived in agony. Tearing down pictures of their loved ones - who are being held hostage by Hamas - is wrong and hurtful.
It. is. antisemitism. Why can't they just say the words?
I mean, think about it - Republicans (wrongly) get called "white supremacists" merely for criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris, and yet this administration (and other Democratic leaders in D.C.) can't and won't explicitly and unequivocally call out actual antisemitism when it's clearly coming from their side and from the same types of radicals who members of their party have repeatedly coddled, played apologists for, etc.
"Why can't they just say the words?" - I believe I've just answered my own question.
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