Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared on CNN’s “News Central” Friday, facing pointed questions from anchor Brianna Keilar regarding her past downplaying of concerns about former President Joe Biden’s cognitive condition.
Keilar initiated the segment by referencing reports and a book co-authored by fellow CNN anchor Jake Tapper, which suggested that Cabinet officials had privately worried about Mr. Biden’s dependability during emergency situations and noted instances such as him allegedly not recognizing actor George Clooney at a fundraiser.
“I mean, we’re talking 2023, 2024. Why didn’t you have concerns? Why didn’t you raise them?” Keilar asked Jean-Pierre, challenging her defense of the former president’s mental acuity during his time in office.
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Jean-Pierre stood firm in her defense, stating, “So I did not have any concerns. I saw him on a daily basis, Brianna. You know that. I saw him every day. I engaged with him every day.”
While conceding that Mr. Biden “showed age,” Jean-Pierre maintained that he was “sharp.”
“This is a president that pushed his staff. This is a president that was on top of what the policies [were] that he cared about, that were important to the American people,” she asserted. She also highlighted his role in leading “an international coalition when it came to something that we hadn’t seen in decades, when it came to the war in Ukraine.”
Keilar pressed further, cutting off Jean-Pierre’s discussion of Mr. Biden’s presidency to re-focus on the core issue of his capacity for office, particularly in the context of his potential to serve another term.
“Do you think he should be president right now? Do you think that he is capable right now of being president?” the CNN host asked. “Because that was what you were advocating for: someone who would be president in his current state until 2029.”
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Jean-Pierre reiterated her belief in his capability during his tenure. “Yeah. I did not see anything that concerned me when he decided to run for president. I did not. This is someone that I saw every single day,” she responded. “He was sharp. He was someone that cared about what the outcome of the issues that were in front of the American people [were] and what we were doing. I’m speaking from my own personal opinion. I’m speaking from what I saw on a day-to-day basis.”
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