WATCH: CNN’s Wolf Blitzer Flat-Out Asks Jean-Pierre If Biden Is ‘Setting Himself Up for Failure’ On Abortion
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer bluntly asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre if President Joe Biden is “setting himself up for failure” on the issue of abortion rights.
President Biden delivered a speech Tuesday afternoon at a DNC event in Washington, DC, rallying Democrats around the issue of abortion rights. The issue has become a top Democratic priority since the Supreme Court effectively overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, and escalated when a national ban was proposed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.
On Tuesday’s edition of CNN’s The Situation Room, Blitzer kicked off his interview of Jean-Pierre with a quick cut to the chase, asking if Biden’s promise to codify Roe if Democrats gain in the midterms is a recipe for failure:
BLITZER: As you know, for President Biden to make good on his pledge to codify Roe, Democrats would have to keep the House majority, pick up Senate seats, and eventually change the filibuster rule as well.
That’s a very tall order. Is the president setting himself up potentially for failure?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, I will say this, Wolf.
And thank you so much for having me.
Look, I can’t get into politics or talk about elections, you know that, because of the Hatch Act. So I’m going to be very careful here in what I say, as I’m standing right in front of the White House here.
Look, what you heard from the president is his continuous fight to fight for millions of women across the country when we saw what the Supreme Court did in this unconscionable decision to overturn Roe. It put millions of women’s lives at risk.
And here’s what’s at stake, Wolf, and this is why this is so important, and this is why you will continue to hear from this president on this issue, and we have, is that we’re seeing these draconian laws across the country in — by Republicans that are putting forth laws that, again, is going to put women’s health at risk, but also criminalizing doctors for doing their jobs.
And if you look just right behind me, in Capitol — at the Capitol, you have Senate Republicans who are introducing national bans. And the president says this. If there’s a national ban on abortion, it’s not going to matter if you’re in a red state or a blue state. Abortion will be illegal all across the country.
So, this is what is at stake. That’s what you heard from the president today. This is what he’s going to continue to speak about, to talk to, to talk about, to make sure that the American people, who are with us — majority of Americans agree with Roe. A majority of Americans disagreed with the court’s decision.
Watch above via CNN’s The Situation Room.
