Political alliances may not always be what society expects. Monday’s White House press briefing, helmed by notoriously inept press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre (KJP) and National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, was a prime example.
For the first time in press briefing history, Politico noted, both Daily Caller White House correspondent Diana Glebova and CBS senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe asked Kirby questions related to allegations that former Vice President Joe Biden was involved in a bribery scandal.
Newsmax reporter James Rosen started off with a bold inquiry about whether the Biden administration was giving mixed signals when it came to protecting classified documents following recent damaging leaks. “How can you tell us that you are not sure that there isn’t more material coming?” Rosen asked. Kirby parried with “We can’t say definitively that there couldn’t be more documents out there, James. I wish we could have a different answer to your question.”
Then it was Glebova’s turn. She zeroed in on the report claiming that the Biden family had funneled $10 million into their bank accounts while Joe Biden was Vice President, and questioned if there were any national security implications related to Biden’s ties with foreign countries. With a curt “No and no,” Kirby dismissed the line of inquiry.
Next, CNN’s White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond tried to ask about former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s comments regarding suicide rates among teenage girls, however KJP refused to entertain the question, instead lecturing him on “the President is going to be very clear that he supports the LGBTQ+ community.” Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich followed up by inquiring about Haley’s remarks that a vote for President Biden is a vote for Vice President Kamala Harris. KJP, yet again, refused to answer the question.
Finally, CBS’s Ed O’Keefe circled back to Glebova’s initial question, asking about House Oversight Committee’s intent to hold FBI Director Wray in contempt for withholding documents related to the Biden allegations. KJP was not up to the task, evading the question by referring the press “to the FBI”, who had released their own statement on the matter.
The press conference showed a clear disdain from the Biden White House for any questions related to the controversial reports about Biden’s actions as Vice President, and also showed that even competitors in the news outlet can allay political tensions to bring important questions to the forefront of the White House briefing room. The people deserve the answers they seek.