On Tuesday, tensions reached a boiling point as Simon Ateba, an African reporter, confronted Biden’s Press Secretary, Karine Jean Pierre. The trigger for his outburst was her consistent evasion of questions regarding Biden’s document scandal, which had left reporters feeling misled.
Simon’s frustration peaked to such an extent that he directly addressed KJP, asserting in front of fellow reporters that she was unfit for her role. You can witness the intense exchange here:
In the clip, Simon challenged KJP’s capability for the position, remarking, “Karine, since you don’t have any answer on the classified documents, you don’t seem a good fit for this job. We do not seem to have any answer from you.”
An incident from the January 24th press conference exemplifies why reporters are becoming increasingly frustrated with KJP. When questioned about the Biden documents and the burgeoning scandal, she consistently deflected, particularly when confronted by FNC’s Peter Doocy.
It all began when Peter Doocy, FNC’s White House Correspondent, inquired, “Thanks, Karine. After a Special Counsel was named but before the FBI searched, President Biden went to his house in Wilmington. What was he doing in there?”
Rather than providing a direct response, KJP redirected, stating, “I would refer you to the White House Counsel.” Unsatisfied, Doocy persisted, asking, “So, it was something relating to this case?” Once again, KJP deferred, repeating, “I would refer you to the White House Counsel’s Office.”
Doocy persisted, probing, “Okay. Do you think that this story was leaked by someone trying to bruise the President politically ahead of a reelection announcement?” KJP maintained her non-committal stance, reiterating, “I would refer you to the White House Counsel’s Office, as they have been the ones who’ve been closely involved.”
Undeterred, Doocy pressed on, “Okay. More basically, we know the President did it. Why did he do it?” KJP reiterated her earlier response, stating, “I would refer you to the White House Counsel’s Office.”
Doocy continued to press, asking, “In the President’s own words, he admits to having information that wasn’t his. Why did he smuggle it out?” KJP chose not to engage further, stating, “I will let the statement of the President stand for itself. I’m just not going to go into a rabbit hole — down a rabbit hole with you on this.” You can observe her attempts to sidestep Doocy’s questions here:
