During a press briefing on Tuesday, there was a heated exchange between White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and New York Times reporter Michael Shear. Shear questioned Jean-Pierre on why the White House was not commenting on the hush money case of former President Donald Trump in New York, citing that the president had previously spoken about other legal cases.
Shear asked Jean-Pierre the difference between President Biden’s willingness to discuss the broader issues surrounding the events of January 6 as opposed to the specifics of individual cases.
“But there are issues presented — people have been talking about them for weeks now — when a former president would be indicted for the first time and arrested for the first time. What is the White House’s reticence, and what’s the difference between that and this?” Shear said in a transcript published via Mediate.
Jean-Pierre replied by emphasizing the severity of the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
“It was a moment for our president to have spoken to,” Jean-Pierre responded. “When it comes to these types of cases, these criminal, specific cases, we’re just not gonna comment.”
Shear interjected and emphasized that over 500 legal cases involved Americans at risk of losing their freedom. The argument escalated, with Jean-Pierre accusing Shear of lecturing her and Shear responding that he did not need a lecture on the fact that people died.
“I hear you; I hear you! This is something that all Americans watch in real-time!” Jean-Pierre responded before observing that “people died” while crosstalk between the two obscured the argument.
Shear retorted, “Karine, I don’t require a lecture about the fact that lives were lost,” while Jean-Pierre accused him of lecturing her.
