A former White House aide says it would have been better if President Joe Bidenās press secretary admitted his unfortunate gaffe about the late Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) was a mistake.
Symone Sanders, a former spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris, was asked about the flub.
āLook, Karine Jean-Pierre has a very tough job. I think she goes out there every single day, and a number of people could not do what she does every day,ā Sanders said.
She went on, āI think itās very clear that the president had a slip of the tongue, obviously. And Iām sure he is extremely apologetic to the family of the congresswoman if he caused them any more trauma or agony.ā
Sanders said she believes āeveryone understands that the president, unfortunately, uniquely understands how the family is feeling.ā
āAnd Iām sure he made that very clear to them when they came to the White House on Friday,ā she said. āJust acknowledge he had a slip of the tongue, move on; itās unfortunate, again, life is here. He understands and empathizes. I think thatās whatās most important here. And I think Karine did try to do that,ā she added.
Watch the video below:
Her comments refer to a moment during the White House conference on hunger and nutrition when Biden was seen asking about Walorski, who died in a car accident in August.
āRepresentative Jackie, are you here? Whereās Jackie?ā Biden asked, adding, āShe must not be here.ā
In case you missed it:
To be fair to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, there is not an easy way to explain or defend Bidenās gaffe.
However, she chose probably the worst way.
During a press conference after the event, Jean-Pierre told reporters the president knew Walorksi was dead and she was ātop of mind.ā
The press secretary also said she did not believe the incident was āall that unusual.ā
It would have been a lot better if Jean-Pierre had told reporters what Sanders said. But instead, she bizarrely tried to act as though it were completely normal. Now, reporters are asking why Biden was looking for Walorski if he knew she had died recently and was ātop of mindā for him.
