KJP Takes Exception When CNN Reporter Asks If Americans ‘Need To See’ Biden ‘Working The Phones’ On Hawaii Wildfires
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre took exception when CNN White House correspondent Kayla Tausche asked if President Joe Biden should be seen “working the phones” over the Hawaii fire disaster instead of “on the beach.”
Despite an extensive federal response, constant updates to the White House press, 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.
At Monday’s briefing, Tausche — making her CNN debut in the briefing room — brought some of those criticisms to Jean-Pierre. First, she asked “How does the White House respond to critics who have suggested that the President should not have been vacationing at the beach over the weekend as the Maui crisis became the worst wildfire in a century?”
Jean-Pierre responded at length by describing the relief effort, and reiterating the remarks that FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell made earlier in the briefing — remarks that CNN did not carry.
When Tausche went back for a second shot, Jean-Pierre responded with a terse litany of the resources that reporters have at their disposal to determine what activity is taking place in response to the disaster:
KAYLA TAUSCHE: So, should the pe- — should the American people be seeing the President on the phone, working the phones, talking to officials, rather than seeing him on the beach?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: The pr- — you all have gotten pool reports on who the President has connected with. You all have heard from us when the President has talked to the governor, when the President — you heard from me when — about talking to the senator. You heard directly from the Administrator.
You know, and you’ve heard from the governor and the senators on the ground, saying how much they appreciated the work of the federal government, the work from this President. And I think that matters. I think that matters that the folks who are on the ground, the elected officials, are saying that they’re receiving the help that they need to deal with this devastating issue.
And that’s what you’re going to continue to hear from this administration. And that’s what you’re going to continue to see.
Again, the Administrator was there for two whole days — two whole days on the ground, by the President’s request, to make sure that the government has what they have — the local government has what they have, the people of Maui have what they have. And that’s what you’re going to see.
When you talk about a dozen agencies on the ground, helping and assisting more than si- — more than — hundreds of FEMA — FEMA personnel, that’s what matters. That’s what matters for — to make sure that they’re actually seeing on the ground the people who know how to work this, who know how to deal with these type of devastating events, who can be helpful to them on the ground doing just that — by the request of this President.
Watch above via The White House.
