President Joe Biden’s White House appears to be struggling, according to one reporter.
During an interview with Fox News, a White House reporter commented on senior communications officials’ handling of Biden’s comment about a congresswoman who died in August.
“I have no idea why senior communications officials tried to defend Biden’s inexcusable comment but if you acknowledge one slip, it validates the rest of questionable moments this president has had,” the unnamed reporter told Fox News.
During a White House press briefing, reporters questioned White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the moment.
She told them Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) was “top of mind” for Biden because he had “planned to welcome the congresswoman’s family to the White House on Friday.”
A second White House reporter told Fox News “people were taken aback because the gaffe was not the real egregious part.”
In case you missed it:
“Where’s Jackie?” Biden asks, referring to Rep. Jackie Walorski, who died in a car accident in August.
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) September 28, 2022
The WH was going to play a tribute video to her during this event. pic.twitter.com/FXZKmqEBW0
The reporter added, “It was the subsequent insistence that he hadn’t made a gaffe. And rather than just saying, ‘Hey, he made a mistake, like we all do,’ I mean, they just seem to make it worse again and again… It certainly wasn’t a high point. When you see that cascade effect, that shows reporters are onto something.”
The first reporter suggested to the network Jean-Pierre may have lost credibility in the room following her response to the question.
“Reporters were insulted by her attempt to try to explain away something they saw with their own eyes. It’s the kind of thing that rallies reporters in the room against the press secretary,” the reporter said.
The second reporter claimed the press secretary “had a really tough assignment, and I don’t necessarily hold her responsible. I think that she had a job to do, which was to try and mitigate and lessen this, and spin it. When overall the White House should have just been like, ‘Yeah, the president made a mistake.'”
They continued, “I think that the failure here was doubling down rather than just admitting that he made a mistake.”
Biden reportedly apologized to Walorski’s family for his mistake.
Walorski’s brother told The New York Post his mother told Biden, “We can tell you where Jackie is. She’s in heaven with Jesus.”
He added, “[Biden] could only agree. He’s a very Catholic person. He’s very strong in his Catholicism. So all he could do is say, ‘Yes, you’re right. I know.’”
Commenting on Biden’s apology, the congresswoman’s brother told the outlet, “We didn’t dwell there a long time. He basically put it out there and apologized and we basically accepted his apology.”
