‘Is the President Being Kept Out of the Loop?’ Peter Doocy and Karine Jean-Pierre Spar Over Payments to Separated Migrant Families
Fox News’ Peter Doocy continued his sparring match with White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on potential payments to migrant families Friday.
President Joe Biden called the initial reporting “garbage” this week when asked by Doocy. The ACLU reacted with surprise and said the president may not have been aware of the plan, and on Thursday Doocy confronted Jean-Pierre about this. She said the president was reacting to “the dollar figure that was mentioned.”
He followed up Friday asking, “Your administration is negotiating cash payments for some illegal immigrants who were separated from family members under the last administration. Why give taxpayer money to people who broke federal law to get here?”
“You like this question, Peter,” Jean-Pierre said. “We talked about this yesterday.”
She told Doocy she can’t speak to this and he should go to the Justice Department for comment, reiterating that “we’re in this place where we are today” because of the last administration’s “inhumane, immoral policy.”
Doocy brought up the ACLU’s reaction and asked, “Is the president being kept out of the loop about immigration policy-making?”
“You asked him a question, a direct question, he was answering it. I cannot say any more than that,” Jean-Pierre answered.
Doocy then asked if there’s any thoughts about “giving people who are coming here the right way money.”
A baffled Jean-Pierre asked, “Why would we be giving people who are coming here the right way money?”
“Why are you giving people who came here the wrong way money?” Doocy asked.
“I don’t understand the question,” Jean-Pierre said.
The Wall Street Journal recently broke news that the Justice Department is considering paying $450,000 a person to compensate migrant families separated under the Trump administration’s immigration policy, in the interest of resolving legal claims from those families.
You can watch above, via the White House.
