• 5 months ago
During Wednesday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about President Biden explaining his performance during the first presidential debate.

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Transcript
00:00I want to share a bit of additional updates
00:02for all of you before we start.
00:05I know some of you have been trying to confirm
00:08some of this information that I'm about to share,
00:09so I'll do it right now at the podium.
00:11The President has connected with Leader Jeffries,
00:15Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Representative Clyburn,
00:19former Speaker Pelosi, and Senator Coons.
00:22Today, President Biden taped two black radio interviews
00:26that will air tomorrow morning.
00:28One is with Earl Ingram on Civic Media Network,
00:32which airs across Wisconsin,
00:34and one with Andrea Lawful Sanders
00:37on WURD's The Source in Philadelphia.
00:40And as Governor Walz of Minnesota announced today,
00:44the President will meet with more than 20
00:47Democratic governors.
00:48Now, as you know, these governors
00:50are some of our closest partners
00:53when it comes to creating jobs,
00:55building new roads and building bridges,
00:58and so much more.
00:59And so, the President certainly looks forward
01:01to meeting with them.
01:02And with that, I am happy to take your questions.
01:05So, I'm in.
01:06Thank you.
01:07Last night at the fundraiser,
01:09the President blamed jet lag for his debate performance.
01:13But he was back stateside for well over a week.
01:16So, does he really need more than a week
01:19and a half to recover from traveling in Europe?
01:23And did he really — is that really what he thinks
01:25caused his poor debate performance?
01:26Yeah, just a couple of things.
01:28And I do appreciate the question because you —
01:29you know, the President has certainly spoken
01:31to this many times about the debate.
01:33And so, he had an opportunity
01:35to do that in front of supporters.
01:37And as you just stated, he did that.
01:38He talked about — he owned that the debate
01:41was not his best night.
01:43And he said himself,
01:44it's not an excuse, but it's an explanation.
01:46I was standing here yesterday,
01:48and many people were asking why
01:49and what's the explanation.
01:51And that's what you heard from him.
01:52Look, the two — I think,
01:54in addition to the two major trips,
01:57he was also doing —
01:59continued to do his presidential duties.
02:01He worked late in doing that.
02:02And he also prepared for the debate.
02:04And on top of that, there was obviously the jet lag,
02:07as you just asked about.
02:09And also, he had a cold.
02:10And you all heard directly — you heard from him.
02:13During the debate, he had a hoarse voice.
02:15Many of you reached out to me and my team
02:17and some other members of the White House
02:20asking what was going on.
02:21We confirmed that he had a cold.
02:23And so, I think those two things —
02:25continuing, obviously, to do his duties
02:27as Commander-in-Chief, as the President.
02:29And so, I think some of you here in this room
02:32can certainly relate to, you know,
02:35what could happen when you're having an important moment
02:39and you're not feeling well.
02:41And also, you wish you could have done better.
02:44And so, he took ownership.
02:46I think that's important.
02:48And he's going to continue to make a strong case
02:50for his agenda, and that's what you're going to see.
02:53And he was given an explanation,
02:56and that's what he wanted to do.
02:57He wanted to get that out there
02:58and for people to hear directly from him,
03:00as he has been doing since Friday of last week.
03:03It just seems like there — I know you're calling it
03:05an explanation, not an excuse,
03:06but it does seem like there are new excuses
03:08since the debate of what went wrong there.
03:11I would say I don't think it's a new excuse.
03:12I think some of you — some of your colleagues
03:14reached out to us about the schedule.
03:17Some of your colleagues asked if the schedule was too strenuous
03:20or was it because of the jet lag.
03:23And so, we are laying out and explaining exactly what happened.
03:28You heard from the President. You've heard from me.
03:30And it was, you know, indeed a schedule where,
03:35you know, the President traveled six time zones
03:37forward to G7 in Italy, nine time zones back to L.A.,
03:42and three time zones forward again to D.C.
03:45That's something that the print pooler on that day
03:49laid out for all of you and those who read the pool notes.
03:55And on top of that, he did have a cold.
03:57So, it is an explanation. I don't think it is an addition.
04:01I don't think it's —
04:02we certainly don't want to explain this away.
04:05But you all asked me for an explanation yesterday.
04:07The President gave that directly yesterday to his supporters.
04:12He wanted to make sure,
04:13knowing that all of you would get that information
04:15as he's speaking to his supporters last night.
04:17You mentioned all the calls that he has made in your topper.
04:20Why wasn't he doing that on Friday?
04:22And why wasn't he doing this sort of damage control?
04:23Why was he waiting on doing that,
04:25waiting to do that until the middle of this week?
04:27I mean, look, I was asked a similar question
04:30by one of your colleagues yesterday.
04:33And look, you know, the President,
04:35obviously, right after the debate,
04:37he visited four states in two and a half days,
04:40gave a couple of remarks.
04:42He met with supporters, whether at the Waffle House
04:45or in Atlanta at a watch party or in North Carolina,
04:48where there were hundreds of supporters there in Raleigh.
04:52And so he was busy dealing with, you know,
04:55dealing with his schedule and also speaking directly
04:58and engaging with his supporters
05:00and then spend time with his family.
05:02I think what's important is that he has done this outreach.
05:05He's having these conversations.
05:07It is important to him to do so.
05:10And the folks that I laid out that he spoke to
05:14are or some of them have been his colleagues.
05:18Some of them have been elected officials
05:21that he's known for some time.
05:23Obviously, you know, Leader Jeffries
05:26is a new relationship that he has,
05:28someone that he obviously respects.
05:30And so, you know, it is I think it's important to note
05:33that they were strong conversations.
05:36That's something that the President told me
05:37and my team directly moments ago.
05:39He was walking around and we happened to see the President
05:42and he said they were strong conversation.
05:45And by the way, he looks great.
05:46The Vice President is great.
05:47And they are ready to continue working
05:49on behalf of the American people.

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