Karine Jean-Pierre Pushes Back When CNN Anchor Falsely Claims Biden Didn’t Speak Publicly About Maui Wildfires ‘Until Yesterday’

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre corrected CNN anchor Phil Mattingly when he falsely claimed President Joe Biden didn’t speak publicly about the Maui wildfire disaster until Tuesday.

Despite an extensive federal response, constant updates to the White House press about the president’s personal contacts with officials in the state, a prompt disaster declaration, and several public statements by the president, critics of the president have seized on the tragedy as an opportunity to criticize Biden, who spent the weekend at his home in Delaware.

On Wednesday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, Mattingly gave voice to the criticism by asking why President Biden had not spoken publicly about the wildfires until his speech in Wisconsin Tuesday — which Jean-Pierre quickly corrected:

PHIL MATTINGLY: I’ve heard from a lot of people inside the White House, the focus on disaster relief. That’s one of the primary issues the president puts a lot of pressure on his team to deliver on. It’s a critical component of what the federal government can do, which is why I want to ask you this question– And you guys will probably think that it’s minor and we’re making too much of it.

But the idea of not saying anything until yesterday publicly. Why?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Well, I would disagree with that, Phil. The president was, when I was with him in Utah and he was out there to talk about the PACT Act, as, you know, incredibly historic, important piece of legislation. When he was out there, he at the top of of his remarks, he talked about what was going on in Hawaii and how we were moving forward with a federal whole of government response. So he has been talking about this.

You heard you saw the FEMA, the FEMA administrator in the briefing room yesterday, actually zoomed in the briefing room on Monday. And I should say yesterday, while she was while she was in Hawaii talking about the efforts, what we’re doing, the federal government, I just listed out all the things that we have been doing since day one. Day one. We have had dozens of federal agencies and departments working with the folks on the ground, doing everything that we can to be helpful. And it doesn’t stop there. Again, we’re going to, this is a long term effort.

And so, look, you’re going to continue to hear from the president. Obviously, he is eager to to head out to Maui to see for himself. And you see the president, it seems, if you know this president, you know how much he cares about people, you know how much he cares about folks who have lost so much. You have covered him, Phil. You know how he deals with these types of unfortunate situations. So, of course, he’s eager to go out there. We just have to make sure it happens where we are not disrupting what’s occurring on the on the ground, the rescue efforts that are occurring on the ground. And that is incredibly important.

Watch above via CNN This Morning.