White House brushes off press secretary’s radio interview saga

The White House is brushing off criticism after press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre abruptly ended an interview with a North Carolina radio station after one of the hosts asked if President Joe Biden has “dementia”.

Ms Jean-Pierre spoke to the news director at 99.3 WBT Charlotte, Mark Garrison, on Tuesday. Mr Garrison subsequently appeared on The Brett Winterble Show where he shared clips of the interview.

Mr Garrison told the press secretary that several people had asked him to ask her about Mr Biden having “dementia”.

Ms Jean-Pierre said that the question was “incredibly offensive”, adding that “I’m not even going to truly… take the premise of your question. I think it is incredibly insulting… we can move on to the next question”.

Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a daily news briefing on 25 March

“How does Mr Biden win votes when people don’t have as much disposable income?” Mr Garrison went on to ask, mentioning rising prices for groceries and gas.

“The president understands,” she said. “He grew up in a middle-class, working-class family in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He gets it. He understands how difficult it is for Americans who are sitting around their kitchen table every month trying to figure out what they’re going to pay for. You have to remember when the president walked into this administration, there were multiple crises happening.

“There was Covid-19, the economy was in a tailspin because of the last administration, because of what President Trump left us with,” she argued. “Now you’re asking me about gas prices. The president took action on gas prices. Let’s not forget Russia’s invasion of Ukraine skyrocketed prices of gas.”

“Because the president took action, we see we are in a different place than we