Karine Jean-Pierre hit from all sides as White House ‘correspondents erupt’ at briefing. Reporters primarily focused on reports that Dr. Kevin Cannard, a neurologist from Walter Reed Military Medical Center specializing in Parkinson’s disease, had met several times with President Biden’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, over the past year. Despite Cannard being listed in the public visitor logs, Jean-Pierre repeatedly refused to confirm his name, citing security and privacy concerns.
The refusal to name the doctor led to a tense exchange between Jean-Pierre and the press, particularly CBS’s Ed O’Keefe and NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell. O’Keefe pressed Jean-Pierre on why the White House would not confirm Cannard’s visits when the information was already publicly available.
“There’s no reason to go back and forth with me in this aggressive way,” Jean-Pierre scolded the reporters. O’Keefe expressed frustration, stating, “We are miffed around here about what has been shared with the press corps about him.”
Jean-Pierre later addressed the confrontation, stating, “I do take offense to what Ed alluded to… to say that I’m holding information or allude to anything else is not [fair]. It’s really, really unfair.” She further characterized the pushback as “personal attacks.”
CNN’s Kayla Tausche noted the frustration among the press corps over the lack of straightforward answers. “It was an extremely contentious mood in the room with frustration evident among the press corps for how hard it was to get very basic answers about whether the president had been seen any more than three times by this specialist, who has specialties in neurology but also expertise in Parkinson‘s and who they had been treating,” Tausche said. She highlighted the lack of direct answers as a primary source of frustration.
ABC’s Selina Wang also commented on the “very testy exchanges,” particularly regarding whether Biden was seeing a Parkinson’s specialist. “She could not answer that very simple question with either a yes or no,” Wang reported.
The White House press corps turning against Jean-Pierre and her refusal to answer questions directly went viral across social media. Former Trump advisor Steve Cortes remarked, “Wow. 3.5 years into the Biden presidency and the corrupt liberal media has officially turned on the White House. These reporters are eating Karine Jean-Pierre alive.”
RedState writer Bonchie compared the situation to “the end of the Matrix when Agent Smith realizes his bullets no longer work on Neo. Jean-Pierre has no idea what to do now that the press aren’t responding to her schoolmarm routine.”
The Spectator contributing editor Stephen Miller agreed, noting, “We cannot disclose if the President has been tested for Parkinson’s because of national security. Incredible to watch this all unravel with even just the littlest bit of ‘respectful’ push back.”
Radio host Buck Sexton highlighted the amusement in Jean-Pierre’s evasive tactics, saying, “Not sure which is more amusing: KJP’s preposterous dodging of questions about Biden dementia, or the Press Pool having a hissy fit for looking like worthless clowns over it.”
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley declared, “They’ve been lying all along.”
Noam Blum, a podcast host, commented on the frustration building up in the press room, saying, “Watching the DC press corps get frustrated with the way KJP has run literally every single press briefing ever sure is a thing.”
Writer Scott Adams added, “This is a beautiful trainwreck,” while Republican communicator Erin Perrine pointed out, “KJP has lost operational control of the briefing room because of her lack of honesty with the White House press corps. She is arguing with reporters about their questions. Not easy to get on the wrong side of this incredibly professional press corps but KJP has done so today.”
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