FNC’s Heinrich Grills KJP Over Islamists in Dearborn, Biden Implying GOPers Are Killers

Curtis Houck
April 9th, 2024 7:42 PM

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After a White House press briefing dominated Tuesday by questions about foreign policy (Israel, Japan, and even Haiti to name a few) for National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, little time was left over for Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Jacqui Heinrich was back in the Fox News Channel seat and she pressed Jean-Pierre over new anti-Israel rhetoric from the radical Islamists who populate Dearborn, Michigan and then President Biden appearing to claim Americans in the Republican Party are murderers.

“A couple days ago in Deaborn, there were protesters chanting, ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel.’ Does the President condemn that,” Heinrich asked, cutting right to the chase.

 

 

When Jean-Pierre said “yes”, Heinrich drilled down: “Is the President at all concerned that Dearborn is becoming – is facing a risk of becoming a hotbed of any sort of homegrown threats?”

Jean-Pierre somehow didn’t invoke Islamophobia and instead replied she didn’t “have any intelligence to share with you on that”, but said it’s “something that we're always very vigilant about”.

Oof. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if Jean-Pierre is forced to clean this up in a few days.

After some sputtering along about how the Biden regime “will condemn any – any of violent rhetoric” and they’ve been “very consistent”, Heinrich had one more missive concerning whether Biden himself would speak publicly about it: “Should we see a – should we expect a statement from the President on that? It was a pretty significant display.”

Jean-Pierre shrugged it off as any Press Secretary should do (if they had any self-worth): “I mean, you're hearing from me. I think that's important.”

Once she made clear Biden supports “peaceful protest”, Heinrich shrewdly pivoted to a case of what was clearly “violent rhetoric” just hours earlier by the President himself:

[D]id the President mean to – essentially accuse Republicans of – of murder? I mean, the – the language that he was using to describe opposition to the Affordable Care Act – the quote was, um, “they want to terminate the Affordable Care Act. Terminate will – guess what – kill millions of Americans.” Does he think that Republicans are trying to kill Americans?

Jean-Pierre insisted Biden said nothing of the sort and accused Heinrich of “taking the most extreme – extreme definition or extreme evaluation of what the President said.”

Hilariously, after a few muddled pricks from Heinrich, Jean-Pierre proved the Fox correspondent’s point with increasingly heated rhetoric claiming Republicans oppose Americans receiving “access to – to health care” when battling “diabetes or cancer” (click “expand”):

[L]et's be really clear. People having health care is important. It saves lives. It is important to have that. The fact that this President was able to expand that is important, right? We’re talking about people who didn’t have access to – to health care, that could – whether they’re dealing with diabetes or cancer or something that is affecting their every life, right? And I think, you know when you have a party that is trying to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and says it bluntly and wants to repeal – they tried to repeal affordable health care – or Affordable Care Act, to be more specific, more than 60 times – they literally voted on it when it is saving people’s lives. Why? Why do they do that? Why? Do they not want Americans to have health care – affordable health care, to protect themselves, to save their lives? I mean, that’s the question to be asked.

The President’s trying to do the right thing. He’s trying to be where majority of Americans are and protect – protect their healthcare, protect their Medicare, protect their Medicaid. And you don’t see that from the other side. You just don’t. He literally had a back-and-forth with them during the State of the Union about that. So – [SHRUGS].

Elsewhere in the briefing, Time magazine’s Brian Bennett had the last question, which was the only one to mention impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the (eventual) transfer of articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial.

Naturally, he asked it in a softball way to allow Jean-Pierre to offer a very lengthy rebuttal about the “blame [sic] act of unconstitutional partisanship” by Republicans:

To see the relevant transcript from the April 9 briefing, click “expand.”

White House press briefing [via ABC News Live subfeed]
April 9, 2024
2:56 p.m. Eastern

JACQUI HEINRICH: A couple days ago in Deaborn, there were protesters chanting, “death to America” and “death to Israel.” Does the President condemn that?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes.

HEINRICH: Is the President at all concerned that Dearborn is becoming – is facing a risk of becoming a hotbed of any sort of homegrown threats?

JEAN-PIERRE: I don't have any intelligence to share with you on that. Obviously, that's something that we're always very vigilant about, but don't have any national intelligence to share with you.

HEINRICH: And then –

JEAN-PIERRE: But, obviously, we will condemn any – any of violent rhetoric –

HEINRICH: – would we be seeing a statement?

JEAN-PIERRE: – which – which we have been very, I mean, you're hearing from me, right? You're asking me a question. I'm answering it and we've been very vigilant about – or very consistent about denouncing that type of that type of rhetoric.

HEINRICH: Should we see a – should we expect a statement from the President on that? It was a pretty significant display.

JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, you're hearing from me. I think that's important. The other part, too, that I do want to be very clear about – you know, peaceful protest is something that the President has also been very, very clear that is important for – to give folks space to peacefully protest, but any type of violent rhetoric, we are going to denounce.

HEINRICH: And then, on some of the comments he made today, did – did the President mean to – essentially accuse Republicans of – of murder? I mean, the – the language that he was using to describe opposition to the Affordable Care Act – the quote was, um, “they want to terminate the Affordable Care Act. Terminate will – guess what – kill millions of Americans.” Does he think that Republicans are trying to kill Americans?

JEAN-PIERRE: I think you're – I think you're taking the most extreme – extreme definition or extreme evaluation of what the President said. Here's the reality. The Affordable Care Act, which obviously started in the Obama-Biden administration, the President expanded on that, making sure that people have affordable health care that saves lives. It does. It is important.

HEINRICH: [Inaudible] use other language, though? It – it’s a stronger than usual –

JEAN-PIERRE: But you're taking what he said to the most extreme part of – of your definition or your realization.

HEINRICH: Well, he said it.

JEAN-PIERRE: I know, but let's be – let's be really clear.

HEINRICH: He – he said –

JEAN-PIERRE: Let's –

HEINRICH: – harm and –

JEAN-PIERRE: – let's be really clear. People having health care is important. It saves lives. It is important to have that. The fact that this President was able to expand that is important, right? We’re talking about people who didn’t have access to – to health care, that could – whether they’re dealing with diabetes or cancer or something that is affecting their every life, right? And I think, you know when you have a party that is trying to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and says it bluntly and wants to repeal – they tried to repeal affordable health care – or Affordable Care Act, to be more specific, more than 60 times – they literally voted on it when it is saving people’s lives. Why? Why do they do that? Why? Do they not want Americans to have health care – affordable health care, to protect themselves, to save their lives? I mean, that’s the question to be asked. The President’s trying to do the right thing. He’s trying to be where majority of Americans are and protect – protect their healthcare, protect their Medicare, protect their Medicaid. And you don’t see that from the other side. You just don’t. He literally had a back-and-forth with them during the State of the Union about that. So – [SHRUGS].

(….)

3:01 p.m. Eastern

BRIAN BENNETT: I want to ask about the, uh, Mayorkas impeachment, how Republicans are planning to send, um, uh, article of impeachment to the Senate. Uh, what is the President's response to this and has the President personally reached out to members of the Senate to talk about this?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, the President spoke, I think the last time they tried to do this and were unsuccessful, the President put out a statement and he said that the history will not look kindly on House Republicans about this. Uh, it is a blame [sic] act of unconstitutional partisanship. That's what the President has said. He continues to believe that. Look, the President was in Madison, Wisconsin yesterday. He talked about student loans. He talked about ways to give Americans a little bit more of breathing room, making sure that they can go after their dreams – right – making sure that borrowers who have been really crunched by, uh, by student loans has an opportunity to get out from that. That's something that Republicans could be helpful with, but instead they get in the way and they get in the way and block what the President is doing, but he's going to continue to do that. There is a national security supplemental that could go to the floor in the House – in the House that the speaker can put to the floor. We know it passed overwhelmingly. We know that it would protect our national security. It would help Ukraine – the brave people of Ukraine who are fighting, uh, for their democracy, help them. They are getting in the way of that. So, look, there – there are ways – let's not forget the bipartisan border deal – right – that the former President said to Republicans to reject that deal because it’s going – it would help Joe Biden and hurt him. Who, who are they working for? Are they actually working for the constituents who put them into office? I mean, that's a question for them to – to – to have to answer. Majority of Americans –the things that I just listed out – the majority of Americans want to see action. They want to see us work in a bipartisan way. We saw that, coming out of the 2022 midterm election, they want to see us come together and get things done. So, House Republicans need to stop playing politics. They need to stop being part about these issues that matter to majority of Americans and get to work – and get to work. We expect them to be leaders, but so do Americans expect them to be leaders as well.

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