‘Did He Watch The Full Debate?’: Karine Jean-Pierre Pressed On Whether Biden Reviewed Performance

3 months ago

During a White House press briefing on Tuesday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Congressional outreach by President Biden and whether he has watched back the debate.

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00:00Q To follow up on something you were saying to Gayle about congressional outreach, has

00:05the President spoken to, does he plan to speak with any of those that have publicly called

00:10for him to go?

00:11MS.

00:12NULAND Look, I don't have a list of people that the President's going to call.

00:15He's going to engage with congressional members.

00:17That's something that he's going to do.

00:19I can say, you know, I'm sure folks here in his Office of Leg Affairs has had regular

00:24communication with everyone.

00:26I just don't have a list of who he's going to speak to.

00:29The President is always willing to speak to people who agree with him and don't agree

00:34with him.

00:35You know that about him.

00:36If you've covered him, he's very much that type of President.

00:40I just don't want to get ahead of his decision on who he's going to call and how that's going

00:44to look.

00:45Q One thing, I don't think we've gotten public clarification about yet.

00:50In the interview Friday night, he was asked, did you watch the debate, and he said, I don't

00:54think I did, no.

00:57Did he watch the full debate, or what of it has he watched?

01:00NULAND You know, that's a good question.

01:01I never followed up with him, and I meant to.

01:04I have not asked him that question.

01:06I was there in the room when he was being asked that question.

01:09I just never followed up.

01:10You know, that is something that we could follow up with him on.

01:14I have not.

01:15I'm sure he's seen clips.

01:17I'm sure he's seen clips.

01:18I just haven't asked him that full question.

01:21Q One other thing that's come up in the last little bit, the Director of National Intelligence,

01:32Avril Haines, I don't know if you've seen this, issued a statement a little while ago

01:37saying in part, in recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take

01:42advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, a playbook we've seen other actors

01:47use over the years.

01:48We've observed actors tied to Iran's government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage

01:53protests and even providing financial support to protesters.

01:56She goes on later to urge Americans to remain vigilant as they engage online with accounts

02:00and actors they don't personally know.

02:01But that's a pretty big charge to make, that Iran may be trying to influence these protests

02:06in the streets of the United States.

02:07NULAND So yes, I know what you're speaking of, what

02:10the DNI warned about.

02:12Obviously, for any specifics, I would have to refer you back to Director Haines and her

02:16statement.

02:17But broadly speaking here, just bear with me for a second, Iran is seeking to opportunistically

02:23take advantage of protests.

02:25So I want to echo the DNI's remarks today.

02:29Americans across the political spectrum acting in good faith have sought to express their

02:34own independent views on the conflict in Gaza.

02:37The freedom to express diverse views when done peacefully is essential to our democracy.

02:43At the same time, the U.S. government has a duty to warn Americans about foreign malign

02:48influences activities.

02:50This is important to help Americans guard against efforts by foreign powers to take

02:55advantage of or co-opt their legitimate protest activities.

02:59We will continue to provide these warnings as they arise.

03:02And today, I just want to convey a firm message from here to Iran and any other foreign actor

03:09that seeks to conduct these types of influence activities meddling in our politics and seeking

03:14to stroke division is unacceptable.

03:17And we will continue to expose attempts to undermine our democracy and our society just

03:22as we are today.

03:24That is something that we will continue to do.

03:25The U.S. government will continue to vigorously support and defend Americans in their exercise

03:31of their First Amendment rights to protest and express political views peacefully.

03:36At the same time, we will continue to warn against, expose foreign efforts to meddle

03:41in our internal affairs and attempt to amplify conflict.

03:45The former is an essential part of the robust, functioning democracy.

03:50The latter is a threat.

03:51And it will not – it will not – will not be tolerated.

03:54And the President's been read into all this?

03:57He's been briefed.

03:58No problem with it being shared publicly?

03:59He's been briefed.

04:00He's been read in.

04:01He is aware.

04:02And we believe, as I just stated here, it is our duty.

04:05It is our duty here as a U.S. government to share that.

‘Did He Watch The Full Debate?’: Karine Jean-Pierre Pressed On Whether Biden Reviewed Performance

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