CNN senior White House correspondent Kayla Tausche asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday why she made her first public appearance on “The View” since President Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 race.
Jean-Pierre publicly addressed Biden’s exit for the first time during her Tuesday appearance on “The View,” after not having held a single press conference since Biden left the race in an announcement on Sunday. The press secretary held the first briefing in nine days on Wednesday following a surge of disarray among Democrats regarding their support for Biden since the June 27 debate.
“It’s been nine days since there’s been a briefing. The president obviously published his letter officially on Sunday withdrawing from the race. Why go on television to make your first comments about that decision rather than make them at the briefing?” Tausche asked.
“No, I appreciate that. We’ve always had a protocol here. When the president’s not here, we don’t do a briefing,” Jean-Pierre replied. “That’s just the way that it’s always happened. The interview that I did yesterday was on the books for about two to three weeks. It was way before, way before the president made his decision. That’s it.”
Jean-Pierre told “The View” co-hosts on Tuesday that Biden stepping down “was the right thing” for the country and assured Vice President Kamala Harris is the “right person” to lead the nation. She also told co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin that Republicans’ concerns about Biden’s ability to serve in the remainder of his term are “ridiculous.”
“I think that’s ridiculous, seriously,” Jean-Pierre said on a Tuesday segment of “The View.” “But what I will say is the president decided not to run for reelection, and that’s it. That’s all he decided on. He wants to continue to do that work, three-and-a-half years of unprecedented, historic work. I think that shows what he’s capable of doing. I think that shows how important his leadership is.”
The president returned to the White House on Tuesday afternoon after having been at his private residence in Delaware to receive treatment for COVID-19 since July 17. Biden will speak before the American public Wednesday evening for the first time since his departure from the race, which he announced in a digital statement on “X.”
Biden reportedly spoke with Harris’ campaign staff Monday on the phone, while a scheduled meeting for Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was postponed.
