When even the White House press corps notices, you know thereās a problem.
With the principal exception of Fox News Peter Doocy, the ājournalistsā whoāve spent two years pretending to cover President Joe Biden administration had seeminglyĀ mastered the art of ignoring the obvious incompetence of the chief executive and the incompetents around him.
But White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre seems to have broken through even with that blinkered bunch.
According to a report Wednesday by CNNās āReliable Sourcesā newsletter ā of all places ā Bidenās press secretary has managed to alienate even the cheering section in the White House briefing room.
The same stenographers who acted like love-struck chorus girls for former White House press secretary Jen Psaki have never been as entirely rah-rah-and-pom-poms for Jean-Pierre ā despite her being the first black press secretary, as well as the first press secretary to be openly lesbian. (You can probably still find āJenā circled in hearts in press corps notebooks.)
But itās undeniable the press corps likes her. Since Jean-Pierre took over the job in May, sheās been treated with the kind of kid gloves no press secretary serving, say, former President Donald Trump could have dreamed of.
Jean-Pierreās mannerisms ā like incessantly consulting a binder for answers ā and inaccuracies ā like actually reading the wrong answer from that same binder ā have gone largely unremarked.
Again, with the principal exception of Doocy, who makes a habit of acting like a professional reporter, the press corps has been largely docile.
But amid the scandal over Bidenās squirreled away classified documents, Jean-Pierre has been flatfooted too many times for even the indulgent liberals of the establishment media assigned to cover for the White House.
And, as āReliable Sourcesā writer Oliver Darcy records, some are speaking out ā albeit with the understanding that their names arenāt used. (God forbid the American public know whoās actually saying what in Washington.)
Even the binders have been noticed.
āYou just get the feeling that youāre wasting your time and whatever is in front of her in the binder is all she is going to say, no matter how many times you ask the question,ā Darcy wrote that one journalist told him. āItās just a painful waste of time.ā
āShe is arguably the least effective White House press secretary of the television era,ā Darcy quoted one correspondent as saying.
(Things arenāt utterly insane, though. Darcy made of point of noting that his unnamed interlocutor specifically excluded the Trump White House press secretaries from that comparison. Even a blithering, inept Democratic appointee has to be better than anyone associated with Trump, despite the memorably effective performances in the podium by Kayleigh McEnany and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.)
āIn recent days, Jean-Pierre has faced a noticeably vexed White House press corps that is openly revolting against her,ā Darcy wrote. āMany of the questions she has fielded have not been about the subject matter, but have centered on her very credibility and how she has performed in the job.ā
To an eye unindoctrinated by the bias that infects the establishment media, questions about Jean-Pierreās credibility were obvious from the outset. Her predictable, amateur partisanship might qualify her for a CNN seat, but not as a spokeswoman to all Americans.
Her occasionally jaw-dropping gaffes make it clear that being a black woman and lesbian are probably her three most relevant qualifications for the job. (Not necessarily in that order.)
But now, the eagle eyes of the nationās political press are apparently opened to Jean-Pierreās faults thanks to the classified documents scandal, particularly after Jean-Pierre assured reporters assembled Friday that all the documents that were to be found had been found ā only to have the discovery of more announced the very next day.
Even worse, those new documents had been found on Thursday ā before Jean-Pierre told reporters there would be no more.
āOn Friday, you stood here, though, and were asked about this documents issue, by our count, some 18 times,ā Cecilia Vega of ABC News said at Tuesdayās briefing, according to Darcy.
āAt that point, the presidentās lawyers had found these five additional pages of classified documents. So, did you not know on Friday that those documents had been found when you were at the podium? Or are you being directed by someone to not be forthcoming on this issue?ā
Translation: Are you ignorant or a liar?
Thatās not a great question for a press secretary. Itās the kind of question the Trump press secretaries had to deal with daily ā either explicitly or implicitly ā but itās new here because the liberals of the White House press corps are hard-wired to go soft-and-cuddly with a Democrat.
āShe is really liked, personally, but that shouldnāt be an excuse for her competence professionally,ā one White House scribe reportedly told Darcy.
Jean-Pierreās problems are unavoidable, even men and women who are being paid largely to overlook them have to face it: And when the White House press corps notices, you know thereās a problem.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
