White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre held a press conference Wednesday, along with National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby — and the two were visibly (and audibly) stunned by questions about President Joe Biden and allegations of his family’s corruption.
The two White House spokespeople were primarily fielding questions about the debt limit… but they were left speechless after a question about public opinion on corruption within the administration.
New York Post reporter Steven Nelson asked the White House a question about polling… and he caught Kirby totally unprepared.
“There was a Harvard/Harris poll this month that found that 53 percent of the public, including a fourth of Democrats, believe, quote, “Joe Biden was involved with his son in an illegal influence peddling scheme,” the reporter said.
“There’s, of course, evidence that the President interacted with his relative’s associates from China, Mexico, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Ukraine So what do you say to the majority of Americans who believe that the President is himself corrupt?”
“Wow,” a visibly stunned Kirby replied, before pausing. “The President has spoken to this, and there’s nothing to these claims.”
An offscreen figure, presumably Jean-Pierre, exclaimed, “Jesus!”
Someone else asked, “Can I take that question?”
Jean-Pierre replied, “No, we got to wrap this up.” Earlier, Jean-Pierre had tried to intercept that same question meant for Kirby.
Take a look —
REPORTER: "53% of the public, including a fourth of Democrats believe that 'Joe Biden was involved with his son in an illegal influence peddling scheme…'"
KIRBY: "Wow! *long sigh* The president has spoken to this…There's nothing to these claims." pic.twitter.com/hcRyTgDJ06
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 31, 2023
The New York Post reporter also asked about an I.R.S. whistleblower alleging a cover-up in the Justice Department’s investigation into Hunter Biden’s taxes.
Kirby referred all the whistleblower-related questions to the F.B.I., an agency with its own spokesperson. “As for the — the whistleblower issue that you talked about and the document — I believe the FBI has spoken to that, and you’re going to have to go to them on that,” he said.
The New York Post received the same response after reaching out to the White House for comment in April.
The Horn editorial team