• 5 months ago
During a White House press briefing on Tuesday, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about Congressional outreach by President Biden and whether he has watched back the debate.


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Transcript
00:00Q To follow up on something you were saying to Gayle about congressional outreach, has
00:05the President spoken to, does he plan to speak with any of those that have publicly called
00:10for him to go?
00:11MS.
00:12NULAND Look, I don't have a list of people that the President's going to call.
00:15He's going to engage with congressional members.
00:17That's something that he's going to do.
00:19I can say, you know, I'm sure folks here in his Office of Leg Affairs has had regular
00:24communication with everyone.
00:26I just don't have a list of who he's going to speak to.
00:29The President is always willing to speak to people who agree with him and don't agree
00:34with him.
00:35You know that about him.
00:36If you've covered him, he's very much that type of President.
00:40I just don't want to get ahead of his decision on who he's going to call and how that's going
00:44to look.
00:45Q One thing, I don't think we've gotten public clarification about yet.
00:50In the interview Friday night, he was asked, did you watch the debate, and he said, I don't
00:54think I did, no.
00:57Did he watch the full debate, or what of it has he watched?
01:00NULAND You know, that's a good question.
01:01I never followed up with him, and I meant to.
01:04I have not asked him that question.
01:06I was there in the room when he was being asked that question.
01:09I just never followed up.
01:10You know, that is something that we could follow up with him on.
01:14I have not.
01:15I'm sure he's seen clips.
01:17I'm sure he's seen clips.
01:18I just haven't asked him that full question.
01:21Q One other thing that's come up in the last little bit, the Director of National Intelligence,
01:32Avril Haines, I don't know if you've seen this, issued a statement a little while ago
01:37saying in part, in recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take
01:42advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, a playbook we've seen other actors
01:47use over the years.
01:48We've observed actors tied to Iran's government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage
01:53protests and even providing financial support to protesters.
01:56She goes on later to urge Americans to remain vigilant as they engage online with accounts
02:00and actors they don't personally know.
02:01But that's a pretty big charge to make, that Iran may be trying to influence these protests
02:06in the streets of the United States.
02:07NULAND So yes, I know what you're speaking of, what
02:10the DNI warned about.
02:12Obviously, for any specifics, I would have to refer you back to Director Haines and her
02:16statement.
02:17But broadly speaking here, just bear with me for a second, Iran is seeking to opportunistically
02:23take advantage of protests.
02:25So I want to echo the DNI's remarks today.
02:29Americans across the political spectrum acting in good faith have sought to express their
02:34own independent views on the conflict in Gaza.
02:37The freedom to express diverse views when done peacefully is essential to our democracy.
02:43At the same time, the U.S. government has a duty to warn Americans about foreign malign
02:48influences activities.
02:50This is important to help Americans guard against efforts by foreign powers to take
02:55advantage of or co-opt their legitimate protest activities.
02:59We will continue to provide these warnings as they arise.
03:02And today, I just want to convey a firm message from here to Iran and any other foreign actor
03:09that seeks to conduct these types of influence activities meddling in our politics and seeking
03:14to stroke division is unacceptable.
03:17And we will continue to expose attempts to undermine our democracy and our society just
03:22as we are today.
03:24That is something that we will continue to do.
03:25The U.S. government will continue to vigorously support and defend Americans in their exercise
03:31of their First Amendment rights to protest and express political views peacefully.
03:36At the same time, we will continue to warn against, expose foreign efforts to meddle
03:41in our internal affairs and attempt to amplify conflict.
03:45The former is an essential part of the robust, functioning democracy.
03:50The latter is a threat.
03:51And it will not – it will not – will not be tolerated.
03:54And the President's been read into all this?
03:57He's been briefed.
03:58No problem with it being shared publicly?
03:59He's been briefed.
04:00He's been read in.
04:01He is aware.
04:02And we believe, as I just stated here, it is our duty.
04:05It is our duty here as a U.S. government to share that.

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