It’s ‘About Supporting His Wife’: Jean-Pierre Chafes When Asked ‘What Biden Has Been Doing’ At Hospital During Jill’s Surgery

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre chafed when she was asked what President Joe Biden “has been doing” as he waited at Walter Reed Medical Center during First Lady Dr. Jill Biden’s Mohs procedure.

At Wednesday’s White House briefing, Jean-Pierre took a couple of questions from reporters related to the hospital visit, one of which questioned President Biden’s work activities during the surgery, the other of which tied it to the president’s annual physical. In each case, Jean-Pierre pointedly shifted the focus to the first lady:

Q Thanks, Karine. I was hoping you could provide an update on what the President has been doing at Walter Reed while the First Lady has been undergoing this procedure. We saw the First Lady’s office put out a brief statement a couple of minutes ago, but what has the President been doing? He was supposed to get the PDB at one o’clock. Did that happen while he was up there?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I’ll — I’ll say this and be very simple. Today is about his wife. That is the focus for the President right now. As many of you know, the President accompanied the First Lady to Walter Reed National Medical Center for her scheduled outpatient procedure, commonly known as Mohs surgery.

The First Lady’s procedure is proceeding well. And as expected, Dr. O’Connor will provide an update about her — her today.

But again, this is about the Pres- — this is about the President supporting his wife of 45 years. And so, again, when it comes to her condition specifically, Dr. O’Connor will have more to share.

But again, I’m not going to go beyond how important it is for the President to be there with his wife today.

…

Q Was there any discussion of President Biden getting a physical while he was at Walter Reed this morning? Or could you provide any update on when that might happen next?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Again, this is about his wife today. He wanted to — he wanted to be there to support her. I don’t have anything else to share besides the fact that, you know, this — they’ve been married for 45 years, and he wanted to be there with Dr. Biden during this time.

East Wing Press Secretary Vanessa Valdivia later posted the update from Dr. Kevin O’Connor, which noted the procedure was successful and that Dr. Biden was “in good spirits and feeling well.”

President Biden echoed those sentiments when he was asked about Dr. Biden’s condition on Thursday morning.

Watch above via The White House.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!