Jean-Pierre Gets Into It At Briefing When Fox News Reporter Asks ‘What’s Biden’s Response To David Axelrod?’

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre went into great detail after first resisting when Fox News correspondent Mark Meredith asked for President Joe Biden’s “response to David Axelrod” on the “risk” posed by running for reelection at his age.

Axelrod has kept himself in the news cycle with several iterations of his take on President Biden’s age and the prospect of dropping out of the presidential race over such concerns.

At Monday’s White House press briefing, Meredith asked about the latest of these, and after a back-and-forth on whether to respond at all, Jean-Pierre gave a lengthy and detailed response that concluded with KJP saying she’d stack Biden up against anyone else “any day of the week”:

MARK MEREDITH: You mentioned the President is excited to cele- — celebrating his birthday. But I’m curious — David Axelrod told the New York Times, quote, “Biden thinks he can cheat nature here, and it’s really risky.” A, what’s the President’s response to David Axelrod? Does he respect his opinion? Does he think he’s right?

But also, I mean, is there a real alarm happening behind the scenes that the President is simply too old to stick around for another four years?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, there’s no alarm happening behind the scenes. Not —

MARK MEREDITH: For Democrats?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: There — I — I can only speak —

MARK MEREDITH: Sure.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — behind the scenes here. There is no alarm happening behind the scenes. And I’m certainly not going to comment on everybody who has something to say.

What I —

MARK MEREDITH: But he’s not nobody.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: What —

MARK MEREDITH: I mean, David Axelrod is a —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I didn’t —

MARK MEREDITH: — is a — is —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I didn’t say that. I didn’t —

MARK MEREDITH: Yeah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Nowhere in my response to you that I said that. I said I’m just not going to comment on everyone that has a — that has a comment to say. They’re going to speak for themselves. I’m going to speak for the President.

And here will I — what I will say is: Look — and — and also, it’s just not my job. It’s not my job to think — to think through or to — to tell people what to think. Right? Whether it’s an Am- — the American — American people out there or — or a — a, you know, political analyst or — or as your question is about David Axelrod. It’s just not my — my place to speak to that.

What I can speak to is how we see this, how what our perspective is. Our perspective is that it’s not about age. It’s about the President’s experience. That’s what we believe.

And it’s — you know, as they say, the proof is in the pudding, right? The President has used his experience to pass more bipartisan legislation in recent time than any other president. That’s just a fact. That is something that we have seen this president do, and that’s because of his experience.

He’s been able to manage multiple — multiple foreign policy challenges. That’s — he’s been able to do that. That’s because of his experience.

He’s been able to create jobs, raise wages, and lower inflation. Right? And that is also — that is — the proof is in the pudding. Right? We see that in the data. We see that where we are today — than where we are — than where we were when the President walked into the administration.

So, what we say is: We have to judge him by what he’s done, not by his numbers.

And — and one more thing I will add: This is the first president ever that’s been able to go to an active warzone without our military, you know, controlling what’s happening on the ground.

And so, look, I would put the President’s stamina, the President’s wisdom, ability to get this done on behalf of — of the American people against anyone — anyone on any day of the week.

Watch above via The White House.

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