“The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin on Wednesday got hit with some pushback from her fellow co-host after criticizing White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s “huge unforced error” regarding President Joe Biden’s age.
Jean-Pierre on Tuesday initially refused to say whether Biden intends to serve a full second term if re-elected in the 2024 presidential election. She then cleaned up her remarks by tweeting that the 80-year-old president will serve a full second term.
“I’m just not gonna get ahead of the president,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at Tuesday’s press briefing. “That’s something for him to decide, I’m just not gonna get ahead of it. There’s a 2024 campaign. Anything else related to that, I would refer you to that.”
She later cleaned up the remark by writing, “As you know, we take following the law seriously. So I wanted to be sure that I didn’t go into 2024 more than is appropriate under the law. But I can confirm that if re-elected, @POTUS would serve all 8 years.”
As you know, we take following the law seriously. So I wanted to be sure that I didn’t go into 2024 more than is appropriate under the law. But I can confirm that if re-elected, @POTUS would serve all 8 years. https://t.co/n9OfMV4D1Y
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) April 25, 2023
Griffin said the “unforced error” will lead voters to distrust that the administration will commit to serving the full years of Biden’s second term.
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“It’s clear that Biden knows age is gonna be a concern in this race, and they made a point of featuring the vice president, something like fourteen times in the ad, to be like ‘Look, there’s somebody younger who’s here, we’re ready to lead.’ But the White House made a huge unforced error yesterday. Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about that,” Griffin said. “They walked it back, but come on. That’s gonna stick with voters that he’s not committed to staying all four years.”
“No, no, I think people are smarter than that!” co-host Whoopi Goldberg pushed back. (RELATED: KJP Asks Jean-Pierre Why Biden Is Running For President At 80 Years Old)
Jean-Pierre’s initial remark and clean up led to criticism from journalists in the liberal, corporate and conservative media, who criticized the press secretary for citing the Hatch Act as to why the White House will not answer questions about the president’s re-election bid. The Hatch Act is a law that restricts government officials from discussing campaigns in order to prevent influencing an election.