‘It Is Not a Snub’: Jean-Pierre Rebuffs Press Obsessing Over Biden And The King Charles Coronation

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pushed back on a barrage of questions about President Joe Biden not attending the coronation of King Charles III from reporters who all certainly know presidents never go to those.

At Wednesday’s press briefing, Jean-Pierre spent a good deal of time side-stepping questions about Trump’s arrest and indictment this week, but there was another subject that prompted multiple exchanges in which reporters reacted with astonishment and deep concern over the fact that Biden won’t be doing the thing that no president has ever done.

No, I don’t mean being indicted, I mean attending the coronation of King Charles. The White House issued a statement indicating the president told Charles in a phone call that First Lady Jill Biden will attend:

President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with King Charles III, underscoring the strength of the relationship between our countries and the friendship between our peoples. The President congratulated the King on his upcoming Coronation and informed him that First Lady Jill Biden looks forward to attending on behalf of the United States. The President also conveyed his desire to meet with the King in the United Kingdom at a future date.

No fewer than four different reporters asked Jean-Pierre about the coronation and the “relationship” between the president and the king, including veteran CBS News Radio correspondent Steve Portnoy, who started the whole thing and who definitely knows better.

Jean-Pierre did break some news in her response to Portnoy:

MR. PORTNOY: Thanks, Karine. Yesterday, your office put out word that the President would not be attending the King’s coronation — King Charles — and that the First Lady would be going on behalf of the United States. Can you explain the decision and why the President decided that he would not go, as head of state, on behalf of the U.S.?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So let me just first say — and the President had about a 25-minute, 30-minute call with the King — King — King — King Charles III, and during which he cra- — congratulated the King. I think we put that out last night — his upcoming cor- — coronation. And they have a very friendly conversation.

They have a — a good relationship with the King. He talked about how he enjoyed meeting — visiting the Queen, I should say, back in 2021 — he and the First Lady at Windsor. And he hoped to visit again soon.

Actually, during that call, the King offered for him to come and do a state — a state visit, which — which the President accepted. And — and so they will see each other again very soon.

And I’ll — I’ll just leave it there.

But again, they have a very good relationship. There are many things that they both care about — key shared values, key shared issues that they want to continue to discuss, like climate change. And that conversation will continue. And there will be a visit in the near future.

The last reporter to ask even literally said that presidents never go to these, yet still asked if the British people should see th as a “snub”:

Q Thanks, Karine. If I could follow up just on the coronation. Aside from the readout that the President had with the King, can you just explain why it’s not the President himself going to represent the U.S. and the First Lady instead?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, the President is looking forward — he had a great conversation, has a good relationship with King Charles III. And they’ve — they — as you know, they’ve met before.

And there’s a lot of shared interests and shared values of issues that they want to discuss and they will continue to discuss, one of them being climate change.

And — and at some time in the future, the King invited the President for a state visit. He accepted and that will happen.

Just don’t have anything further to share on that.

Go ahead.

Q Thanks, Karine. Are you concerned that the British people might see this as a snub that the President is not going? I know Presidents haven’t gone in the past, but now we have airplanes and much more modern technology that makes these kinds of trips easy to do. And what does this say about the special relationship?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, they should not see it as a snub. Not at all.

Again, the President has a good relationship with the King. They had a friendly conversation. And I will leave it at that. It is not a snub.

When reached for comment, The White House pointed to the copious number of reports that note U.S. presidents have never attended the coronations of British monarchs, and expressed confusion that reporters from outlets that have reported it’s the norm keep acting like it’s the opposite.

That’s a lot nicer than I would have put it. My response would have been more like this:

MR. CHRISTOPHER: You know guys, there’s nothing wrong with asking about this four or five times in and of itself, you can spend your time however you want to, but acting like the president not going to something that no president has ever gone to is an indication of a problem with our relationship to a global power?

That’s just irresponsible and dumb.

And you, Portnoy, sitting there looking like Charles Boyle from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, you sit in the Mark Knoller seat, you know better than this!

And you all know that while it’s obvious why a president wouldn’t go to the coronation of a monarch from whom we fought a war of independence to free ourselves, that’s not really the kind of thing that a current White House press secretary is going to sit up here and explain to you dumb shits because why would I want to rub salt in that wound for absolutely no reason?

“Sorry King Charles, I know it’s your big day and all, but I just want to remind everybody that the president of the United States IS NOT YOUR SUBJECT! NOW GO GET YOUR FUCKING SHINE BOX!”

What’s that, I’m fired? But I was doing #XTOPHERBOMBS!

The snub narrative is silly on its face, and would barely merit a mention except for the fact that it perfectly illustrates a major problem that will keep playing out as Trump tries to retake the presidency. In a week when Trump got arrested and indicted and showered with wall-to-wall coverage, the press also made sure to be performatively “tough” on Biden for literally nothing.

The biggest shouty pain-in-the-ass in the briefing room these days isn’t Simon Ateba or Peter Doocy, it’s New York Times correspondent Michael Shear, who just keeps on finding reasons to yell at Jean-Pierre during briefings. Now, I’m not an opponent of showboating per se, but most reporters who do it understand that it says something about them — indeed, that’s why they do it.

What these reporters are saying is that if they have nothing to keep Biden even with Trump in their Slam-ometer, they’ll just make something up.

Watch above via The White House.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.