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America’s not buying it! Reporters press KJP about a change in strategy or staffing for ‘underwater’ admin

November 28, 2023 | | Print Article

Waning confidence as Americans “not buying it” led to testy exchanges at a White House briefing where the press secretary was pressed over potential “change in strategy or staffing” for “underwater” administration.

(Video: C-SPAN)

As the final year of President Joe Biden’s term draws near, the “build back better” mantra appeared to shift to “don’t believe your lying eyes” as harsh realities were ignored in favor of gaslighting. Such was the case when Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy confronted White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre over the lasting damage of inflation.

Holding the administration spokeswoman to her claims, he called out, “You said earlier that the actions the president has taken have worked. So, is it your sense that when people are home for Thanksgiving, catching up with their family members, they were saying to each other, ‘Can you believe how much more affordable things have gotten?'”

Before responding with anything even resembling facts, Jean-Pierre expounded from a position of feelings and said, “So, honestly, I wouldn’t — I hear the question, but I want to make sure this is very clear. We take that very seriously. We take what families — families, the decisions that they make at their kitchen table, whether it’s at — whether it’s during Thanksgiving or whether it is every month as they’re trying to make hard decisions about how they move forward with taking care of their family, we take that very seriously. It’s not a joke to us. It is important to us.”

Indicating Biden “talks about it in a very personal way,” the press secretary then claimed, “…the fact is, the data shows that the economy is improving. The data shows that households remain in a strong financial position. Household wealth is — is at a record high, with lower-income households seeing the largest gains since the pandemic. Those are indeed what we’re seeing.”

Doocy countered, “But why do you think it is that when you say the economy is improving and President Biden says the economy is improving that a majority of Americans outside of this building are not buying it?”

Falling back on blaming former President Donald Trump, the press secretary argued, “When we walked into this administration, the economy was on a tailspin — a tailspin — that is the fact…because of how they dealt with — dealt with COVID and the pandemic, because they didn’t have a comprehensive plan.”

Lamenting that Biden would need “some time,” the correspondent pressed further, “But almost three years in office, inflations is up over 17 percent since President Biden came here. And you’re saying that’s still Trump’s fault?”

As she contended “inflation is moderating,” he added, “Doesn’t that just mean that prices are going up slower?”

Cherry-picking prices that had gone down, but were still considerably higher than when Biden had been inaugurated didn’t resolve the problem, nor did it change the lacking confidence from the American public that Jean-Pierre was challenged on by CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe.

When given his chance to question the press secretary, he presented, “I suspect that if we polled the room, many of us would probably ask some version of the following question: Given the president’s sagging poll numbers and the fact that he is currently placing behind any Republican opponent, has there been any talk in this White House about a change in strategy or staffing going forward in reflection of those numbers that continue to show him underwater?”

With a blunt “No,” from Jean-Pierre, O’Keefe continued, “And there was also a call out in recent weeks to staff, senior officials and if you wanna go by the end of the year, go — otherwise you’re here for the duration of the rest of the term — is there, should we be anticipating any departures of either Cabinet officials or other senior officials.”

“Look, I can’t speak to people’s personal decisions. I just don’t —  don’t have anything to announce at this time. And, you know, we’re going to continue to do the work that the president set out to do. And we just talked about supply chains. We just talked about the economy. We’ve been talking about the president’s leadership globally, especially in the Middle East,” she said before adding, “That’s what we’re here to do and focus on. That’s what I’m here to do and focus on. I just can’t speak to people’s decisions.”

Setting aside concerns over election integrity, many saw the denial to be a positive sign ahead of the general election.

Kevin Haggerty
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