News reporters are getting frustrated with the daily press briefings of White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
They believe the secretary is usually unaware of the current events and has not much news to offer.
White House Press Team in Trouble Again
Politico’s newsletter “Karine’s tough debut,” revealed the growing sentiments among reporters who do not seem satisfied with the daily press briefings of Jean-Pierre.
According to the newsletter, her response in the “rocky first month” of her tenure has “baffled reporters” and made some of her colleagues “wince.”
While it is completely normal for press secretaries not to be aware of all the latest developments, Politico pointed out that Jean-Pierre is more uninformed than her predecessors.
'A first month full of faulty answers and strict adherence to talking points have made the new [White House] press secretary appear underprepared…' From @politico https://t.co/txdhUrl091
— Byron York (@ByronYork) June 30, 2022
For instance, in her first ten briefings, Jean-Pierre stated she did not have enough information more than 20 times, which is significantly greater than former press secretary Jean Psaki’s first ten briefings.
Many reporters, as per the newsletter, informed Politico that even when Jean-Pierre has answers, she mostly sticks to her pre-written notes to give vague explanations to attendees.
One reporter even noted that “it wouldn’t surprise” him if reporters start walking out of the room during the briefings, due to the “lack of news” coming from the podium.
Furthermore, another reporter mentioned the secretary is so afraid of making any mistake that instead of speaking freely, she is just reading text from a page.
Jean-Pierre Out of Clues in Her Briefings
Politico mentioned she was unaware that President Biden was present with Interior Secretary Deb Halland just a couple of days before the latter got tested positive for coronavirus.
In addition to that, a reporter recently asked her about Biden’s skeptical claims that he graduated from the naval academy in 1965.
Responding to that, the press secretary claimed she “did not hear that part of the speech.”
The report also linked to a tweet of the RNC, a video clip in which a reporter asked the secretary about the latest development in the baby formula shortage story.
Here, Jean-Pierre said she did not have anything new in front of her after checking her notes.
Karine Jean-Pierre on Biden's (lack of) progress addressing the baby formula shortage: "Uhhh…. I know we made some announcements last week, I just don't have them in front of me." pic.twitter.com/Idd6gFQYOG
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 13, 2022
Some insiders of the White House believe the president set a trap for her to fail by bringing John Kirby, who is now regularly present in the White House, to answer foreign policy-related questions.
However, the White House dismissed the allegations.
Deputy press secretary Andrew Bates claimed Jean-Pierre’s doors are always open for reporters, adding she holds longer press briefings than the modern-day average.
According to the White House, it is normal for the RNC and the DNC to take aim at the press secretaries of the opposite party, so the media should not worry about it.
Some White House officials established the president has not appointed the principal White House press secretary yet, which is putting more burden on Jean-Pierre.
