White House spokesperson addressed questions on immigration, Biden mental acuity | Fact check

Andre Byik, USA TODAY
·3 min read
711

The claim: Video shows White House spokesperson ignore reporter question and leave

A Feb. 9 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) purports to show an exchange between White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy.

"So, you guys talk a lot, including today, about how the border wouldn’t be such a big deal if Congress would have just passed your immigration bill on day one. Who was in charge of Congress on day one?" Doocy asks first.

Jean-Pierre appears to stand silently.

Then Doocy asks, "And how is President Biden ever going to convince the three-quarters of voters who are worried about his physical and mental health that he is OK, even though, in Las Vegas, he told the story about recently talking to a French president who died in 1996?"

Jean-Pierre responds, "All right, thanks guys," as she closes a binder and walks away from the lectern.

The video's caption reads, "Best job on the planet, you can leave whenever you want! Kudos to Peter Doocy for the grill."

The post was liked nearly 13,000 times in four days.

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Our rating: Altered

The video is edited and misrepresents what happened. Jean-Pierre did not ignore the reporter's questions or abruptly end the briefing. She answered them, then took questions for about 40 more minutes.

Press secretary's answers cut from White House briefing video

Jean-Pierre responded to both questions Doocy asked during the Feb. 6 press briefing shown in the Instagram post, according to footage of the event published by C-SPAN and the White House. She did not stand silently or suddenly end the briefing.

In response to the immigration question, Jean-Pierre said Democrats and Republicans must act to address a "broken" immigration system. She accused Republicans in Congress of obstructionism over the past three years.

"I’m not saying that Democrats have not been in control the first two years. That’s not what I’m saying," she said, according to a White House transcript. "I’m saying House Republicans have gotten in the way. They have. They have purposefully gotten in the way in trying to fix what’s happening at the border."

And in response to Doocy's question about Biden's mental fitness, Jean-Pierre said, "I’m not even going to go down that rabbit hole with you."

Fact check: Illegal immigration outpacing U.S. births? No, that claim is built on misused data

Following pushback from Doocy, the press secretary added, "You saw the president in Vegas, in California. You’ve seen the president in South Carolina. You saw him in Michigan. I will just leave it there."

The videos show that Jean-Pierre then took questions for about 40 more minutes.

This isn't the first time an exchange between Jean-Pierre and Doocy has been misrepresented on social media. USA TODAY previously debunked a similarly altered video that appeared to show the press secretary avoiding a question and abruptly ending a press conference.

The Instagram user who shared the video did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White House briefing not ended after Fox News question | Fact check

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