White House defends Biden's maskless photo after testing positive for COVID-19, says photog was distanced

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HKarine Jean-Pierre, White House COVID response coordinator brief the press after President Biden tests positive for coronavirus

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday defended President Biden posing maskless for a photo at his desk after testing positive for COVID-19. 

Jean-Pierre said Biden was socially distanced from the photographer who took the photo posted from the president’s Twitter account on Thursday.

"He took off his mask so that the American people could see him and see directly, you know, see the work that he's doing and that he's sitting at his desk continuing to do his work," she said.

Jean-Pierre said Biden also took the proper precautions while shooting a video Thursday on the Truman Balcony on the south side of the White House.

WHITE HOUSE DOESN'T KNOW WHERE BIDEN CAUGHT COVID-19, SAYS IT'S NOT IMPORTANT

"Look, in the video that you saw, a videographer was there with him, wore an N95 mask, had the appropriate distance, the 6-feet distance," she said. "And as you saw on the video, he was outside." 

President Biden released a photo of himself in the White House after testing positive for COVID-19, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (White House)

Jean-Pierre said earlier in the briefing that it doesn’t matter where Biden contracted COVID-19, and that the most important thing is that he was fully vaccinated and double boosted.

"Look, I don't think that that matters, right? I think what matters is we prepared for this moment," she said.

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Biden tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday morning and is experiencing mild symptoms, including a runny nose, occasional dry cough and fatigue, the White House said. His latest previous test for COVID-19 was Tuesday, when he had a negative test result, the White House said.