White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre grew defensive Monday as a reporter raised questions on President Joe Biden’s secret criticism of Israel.
President Joe Biden reportedly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an “asshole” in at least three incidents as he has reportedly vented his “frustration” at the prime minister. A reporter from Reuters questioned the press secretary on making all meetings with campaign donors open to the press to ensure transparency.
“There was some reporting this morning that President Biden told some campaign donors that Prime Minister Netanyahu ‘has been a pain in my ass lately’ or ‘he’s been killing me lately,'” the reporter began. “The reason we don’t know what the exact quote is is because the press was not in that meeting that the president had with these donors. Why is the president not living up to his full transparency pledge in terms of opening all meetings with donors to the press?”
“So I think that … first of all, I want to be careful because these are campaign events. So I just want to be mindful, I can’t speak to each of them or really most of them. I know that, and as you know, when the president does speak in front of … he does do some of these fundraising events, right? When he gives formal remarks, the press pool is in there and they are listening to the remarks and get to hear directly what the president says. So I think that’s also very important. I don’t want to make it sound like there’s not a process there. But when he is in front of donors giving formal remarks, that you all are not in the room as he’s speaking,” the press secretary replied.
“He does have private meetings, that is true,” she continued. “And when he has those private meetings, those meetings — so that there is candor and that he can hear directly from folks — those tend to be private.” (RELATED: KJP Cuts Off And Shouts Down Peter Doocy After Refusing To Answer Border Crisis Question)
The reporter questioned whether the president should engage privately with donors about his criticism of Netanyahu and other important matters. The press secretary said Biden has private meetings “all the time.”
“I hear your question, but the president has private meetings all the time. He does. He has private meetings all the time,” she said.
“But these aren’t foreign leaders, these are people who are giving money to him, his campaign,” the reporter pushed back.
“I hear you, but he has private meetings with everyday people. Some of these donors have, and I want to be super mindful here, concerns as well, just like everyday American people that he has private meetings with or that he sees on the road. It’s not every meeting that is going to be public. But when he has remarks at fundraisers, there is formal remarks, the press pool tends to be in the room, or is in the room. Private meetings are different, and so that’s the way it’s been for the past three years in this administration.”
The press has expressed “disgust” with Biden for having events be restricted to the press and for having a list of ten preselected reporters from approved outlets.
The president has further come under great scrutiny by Democratic voters over his unwavering support for Israel as its war with Hamas continues to rage on. Some have threatened to withhold their support for the president in the 2024 election, and members of his own White House staff have raged against his support for Israel.