CNN political director David Chalian said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre failed to explain why President Joe Biden had an alarmingly disastrous debate performance.
Jean-Pierre repeatedly asserted that Biden simply had a “bad night” and suffered from a cold during Tuesday’s briefing, the first held since the debate. The press secretary assured Biden was in good shape as reporters chided her on the president’s mental and cognitive health needed for a potential second term.
“Jean-Pierre said it plainly, ‘We want to turn the page. We want America to turn the page. We are hoping to turn the page.’ She said it three times. That was quite clear. The page is not turning, because there was a lack of answers to the critical, fundamental question that was being asked, which is, what happened? What happened that all Americans saw? So Karine Jean-Pierre kept saying, ‘We’re not trying to ignore reality. We understand and acknowledge what America saw and witnessed and that that was a really bad night and that was a bad debate, and we acknowledge that.’ But she does not offer one bit of evidence or reasoning or rationale for why,” Chalian said.
“Why did Americans see what they saw that night? And there were a lot of questions asked by the White House Press Corps., you know, ‘can we get more medical records?’ ‘Can we get the doctor available?’ ‘Is it time to do a cognitive test, you didn’t do one in the last?’ And there was just no, none acceptance for that kind of a premise. It was just, ‘One bad night, we acknowledge that.’ But she’s missing explaining to the country fundamentally, ‘Why?'” he continued. (RELATED: ‘Is He Disabled?’: KJP Snaps At Reporter As He Shouts Out Question About Biden’s Cognitive Health)
CNN’s David Chalian says KJP failed to explain why Biden had an alarmingly disastrous debate night pic.twitter.com/m6aAEVNGwG
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The press secretary claimed the White House was not hiding any details about Biden’s health but rather asserted they have been “transparent.” She mentioned Biden had a cold during his lacking performance and she he continues to suffer from it.
Two aides rushed to publicly tell NBC News the president suffered from a cold halfway through the debate as his appearance onstage had become a cause for concern. The president’s campaign did not mention any form of sickness prior to the incident, with Jean-Pierre confirming Tuesday he took no medication to mitigate the cold during the debate.
Democratic Texas Rep. Lloyd Doggett became the first congressional member of Biden’s party to call on him to step down from the race in a Tuesday statement, citing the risk of former President Donald Trump being reelected.
“My decision to make these strong reservations public is not done lightly nor does it in any way diminish my respect for all that President Biden has achieved,” Doggett said in a statement. “Recognizing that, unlike Trump, President Biden’s first commitment has always been to our country, not himself, I am hopeful that he will make the painful and difficult decision to withdraw. I respectfully call on him to do so.”
Many liberals, including MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, suggested Friday that Biden should maybe consider dropping out following his performance. Scarborough’s wife and co-host, Mika Brzezinski, has staunchly defended the president and disagreed with his suggestion.
