Video of White House briefing altered to show abrupt end | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Karine Jean-Pierre avoiding question on Trump by ending press conference
A Sept. 17 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre taking a question from a reporter about the apparent second assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump.
"It's been only two days since somebody allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump again, and you're here at the podium in the White House Briefing Room calling him a 'threat,'" Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy says in the clip. "How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and the vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump other than 'threat?'"
The video then cuts to Jean-Pierre ending the press conference and walking away without responding.
“She just got DESTROYED and walked off humiliated!” reads on-screen text in the post.
The post was liked more than 6,000 times in two days.
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Our rating: Altered
The clip is edited to remove Jean-Pierre's answer to Doocy's question. The full video of the exchange shows she responded at length and then continued taking questions from another reporter before ending the press conference.
White House spokesperson answered question, then took more
The exchange between Jean-Pierre and Doocy happened at a White House press briefing on Sept. 17, two days after the Secret Service foiled an apparent second assassination attempt against Trump at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
A video of the briefing provided by the White House shows Jean-Pierre did not abruptly end the press conference after Doocy asked his question. Instead, she had a lengthy response, telling Doocy she "completely" disagreed with the premise of his question. She went on to say, in part:
"The question that you’re asking, it is also incredibly dangerous in the way that you’re asking it, because American people are watching. And to say that — to say that from a administration who has consistently condemned political violence; from an administration where the president called the former president and was thankful, grateful that he was okay; from an administration who has called out January 6th, called out the attack of Paul Pelosi, called out and said we need to lower the temperature after the Butler incident — and now for you to make that kind of comment in your question — because it — your question involved a comment and a statement — and, you know, it is — that is also incredibly dangerous when we have been very clear in — in condemning political violence from here."
Fact check: Video of Karine Jean-Pierre saying US, Ukraine defeated Hitler, Stalin is altered
A White House transcript and video show a back-and-forth between Jean-Pierre and Doocy – regular sparring partners in the briefing room – occurred before Jean-Pierre eventually moved on to take questions from another reporter about taxes on overtime pay and the economy.
Jean-Pierre ended the briefing about eight minutes after Doocy asked the question about Trump, C-SPAN footage shows.
USA TODAY has debunked an array of social media claims related to Jean-Pierre's press conferences, including videos that were similarly altered to show her abruptly ending briefings and to add fabricated audio.
The Instagram user who shared the post did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Our fact-check sources:
The White House, Sept. 17, Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
The White House (YouTube), Sept. 17, Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre
C-SPAN, Sept. 17, White House Daily Briefing
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Karine Jean-Pierre didn't ignore Peter Doocy question | Fact check