‘If the Dramatics Could Come Down!’ Jean-Pierre Goes At It With Doocy Over Border – Then Blows Him Off Still Trying To Follow Up
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre threw down with Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy over the border, scolding him for “dramatics” and blowing him off in mid follow-up.
President Joe Biden is sending over 1,500 active-duty troops to the border in anticipation of the end of Title 42 authority next week.
At Tuesday’s press briefing, that surge was a hot topic, and Doocy dug right in by asking Jean-Pierre about the troops, and then confronting her about a statistic she cited at Monday’s briefing.
Things got testy, and Jean-Pierre moved on to the next question even as Doocy was trying to blurt out a follow-up:
PETER DOOCY: Thank you. If the border is secure, as the administration has said, then why would we need to send 1500 active duty U.S. troops down there?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Because we need more work. We need, more work needs to be done. Peter. We put forth a comprehensive immigration legislation and Congress, the Republicans in Congress refused to act. And so the president has used the tools that he has in front of him to prepare ahead of Title 42 lifting. As you know, that is happening in the next couple of days. And so we are putting DHS. Department of State, is putting forth processes to deal to deal with the changes that are going to be ahead of us. And so that is what’s important here. And that’s what you’ve been seeing for the past several months. You’ve heard from DHS, you’ve heard from the State Department on what we’re putting in place to deal with, to deal with the border once Title 42 lifts.
PETER DOOCY: You said yesterday that when it comes to illegal migration, you’ve seen it come down by more than 90%. Where did that number come from?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: It was I was speaking —
PETER DOOCY: CBP is telling us the number is 136,000 people more this fiscal year…
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I hear you. I’m about to answer — I’m about to answer you. So if you, if you, if the dramatics could come down just a little bit, if the dramatics would come down a little bit!
PETER DOOCY: What’s dramatic about asking a question about —
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Okay, I’m going to answer. So I was speaking to the parolee program. As you know, the president put in place a parolee program to deal with, to deal with certain countries on ways that we can limit illegal migration. And we have seen, the data has shown us that it has gone down by more than 90%. That was when I was speaking to.
PETER DOOCY: And just to follow up really quick [keeps talking indistinctly]
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: No, I’m I’m, we’re going to go. We’re going to move. Go ahead! Go ahead! Go ahead! We’re moving, Peter.
Jean-Pierre was referencing a CBP release from mid-March that noted “Encounters of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans between Ports of Entry at the southwest border declined from a 7-day average of 1,231 on the day of the announcement on January 5, to a 7-day average of 46 on February 28—a drop of 98%.”
Watch above via The White House.
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