Press secretary loses it when asked if White House cocaine belonged to Biden family: 'Incredibly irresponsible'
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre lost it when questioned by a reporter whether the cocaine found in the West Wing belonged to a member of the Biden family.
Conservatives skewered White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre after she scolded a reporter for asking if cocaine found in the West Wing of the White House belonged to the Bidens.
During Friday's press briefing, New York Post reporter Caitlin Doornbos asked if Jean-Pierre could "say once and for all whether or not the cocaine belonged to the Biden family," and also inquired as to why deputy press secretary Andrew Bates dodged questions related to the cocaine by citing the Hatch Act the day before.
Jean-Pierre appeared visibly uncomfortable as she responded, "There has been some irresponsible reporting about the family. And so I've got to call that out here. And I have been very clear. I was clear two days ago when talking about this over and over again as I was being asked the question."
She went on to claim that the Biden family was not present in the days before the cocaine was found on Sunday and added, "So to ask that question is actually incredibly irresponsible. And I'll just leave it there."
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre hosting a press briefing.
Users across Twitter lampooned the press secretary and the Biden administration, arguing it has little credibility when rebuking questions like this.
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"It’s us who have no sense of shame," National Review senior writer Noah Rothman tweeted sarcastically about Jean-Pierre's indignation.
Substack writer Jim Treacher argued the administration cannot be trusted anyway, "Why wouldn't the White House just deny it? They'll lie about everything else."
"This assumes the White House is telling the truth about when the cocaine was found, which given how many times the story has changed this week, is a dumb thing to assume," Townhall columnist Derek Hunter tweeted regarding Jean Pierre's explanation of the Biden family's whereabouts over the weekend.
In fact, State Freedom Caucus Network communications director Greg Price contested whether Jean-Pierre's statements about when the Bidens went away were factually true.
"Karine Jean-Pierre just said the Bidens were not at the White House on Friday when the cocaine was found. According to the White House pool report from Friday, all of them including Hunter were in fact there," Price wrote.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House July 7, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Other commentators scorched Jean-Pierre for her poor performance as the White House’s spokesperson.
"KJP is now trying to ‘work the refs’ after her own press shop has failed to get ahead of the story about COKE being found in the Biden West Wing," conservative communications expert Steve Guest wrote. "Shameless."
"KJP has just convinced me that the cocaine belongs to the Biden Family," political commentator Kate Hyde wrote.
"All she had to say was, ‘No, that cocaine didn't belong to anyone in the Biden family,’" the CEO and co-founder of the Federalist, Sean Davis tweeted. "And instead she filibustered for a minute and a half to answer a question no one asked."
Other commentators satirized the incident.
"It belongs to the American people, for that is the People's House. Look for the IRS cocaine rebate next year," Washington Examiner executive editor Seth Mandel wrote. "Probably will be in the form of a stimulus card that can only be used/swiped at the cocaine store, though you should be able to transfer the balance."
"So it’s her cocaine?" MRC associate editor Nicholas Fondacaro wrote sarcastically. He went on to suggest that "Every White House official needs to be asked on-the-record if the cocaine belongs to them."
The Spectator contributing editor Stephen L. Miller blasted the press secretary with a barrage of tweets.
After initially asking why it is supposedly "irresponsible" to ask about who owns the cocaine found in the White House, he mocked the press secretary for having difficulty offering a straightforward answer by quipping, "Seems like a pretty easy one," then went on to ask, "If she can't unequivocally deny that it belonged to a member of the Biden family, why not?"
He followed up by mocking the conversation as an exchange between a reporter asking, "’Can you say unequivocally that the cocaine did not belong to any member of the Biden family?’" and the press secretary responding, "’How dare you.’"
He offered a more straightforward critique suggesting Jean-Pierre is "doing the thing again where she doesn't answer questions and then says that she has exhaustively answered questions on this" and is "so f------ bad at her job lol."
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