WATCH: Jean-Pierre Chafes At Fox News Accusation Biden Is ‘Dishonest’ About Negotiating With GOP

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre chafed at Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich’s accusation that President Joe Biden is being “intellectually dishonest” about negotiations with the GOP.

President Biden and his administration have been consistent in refusing to allow the debt limit to be “held hostage” by Republicans to force negotiations over the budget.

At Thursday’s press briefing, after Heinrich weathered an interruption from Gray TV’s Jon Decker, she drew pushback from Jean-Pierre by calling Biden’s position “intellectually dishonest”:

JACQUI HEINRICH: And the last one, just on that shouted question that he did respond to on — on the debt ceiling. Having heard your response to questions that were answered already here today, you’ve had now Democrats saying that Republicans have, you know, come to the table — might not like what they came to the table with, but it’s time for the dialogue.

You know, how long can this posture from the President last before it feels like intellectually dishonest to say, you know, they’re holding the economy hostage and not raising the debt ceiling when they did pass a bill to raise the debt ceiling, and the — the argument is really about the — the budget cuts, the spending cuts, and not about whether or not the debt ceiling gets raised?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I have to say, Jacqui, I disagree with the “intellectually dishonest.” That is certainly not how we see ourselves here because we’ve been very, very clear that they need to deal with the debt ceiling. They need to not default. It is a constitutional duty.

And it’s — again, this is not to us. This is to the American people. If you think —

JACQUI HEINRICH: So they won’t talk unless it’s without conditions?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, but — no —

JACQUI HEINRICH: Like, unless it’s a clean bill, they won’t talk.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, I’ve been very clear: Without conditions we’ll — we will not negotiate. There’s not — there’s nothing new there.

What you’re seeing that the House Republicans have done is they are — they said that unless the President — and I’ve said this before; this is nothing new that I’m about to say. Unless the President and the Senate agree to an extreme MAGA wish list slashing — slashing education, veterans’ healthcare, Meals on Wheels; taking away healthcare for millions of American; and sending manufacturing jobs overseas, they’re going to default and crash the economy.

We’ve said this over and over and over again and been very clear. The President does not agree with this bill. He think — he believes and we believe — and the American people deserve this — that they need to do their constitutional duty. They need to do this so that we are not holding — they are not holding, not we — they are not holding the economy — our American economy hostage.

We cannot be dead- — a deadbeat nation. We cannot be.

JACQUI HEINRICH: So no meeting unless it’s a clean debt bill.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I — look, I — we’ve been very clear about this. We’ve been very, very clear. I appreciate — I appreciate the merit of the question.

Watch above via The White House.