Curtis Houck, of the Media Research Center, says it was difficult to cull all the memorable moments between Karine Jean-Pierre and the few members of the White House press corps who have challenged her.
But he tried.
A related MRC story by Houck says he looked through more than 70 MRC blog posts and whittled down the most memorable exchanges, accusations, counter-accusations, and outright lies to create a Top 20 list.
In a room filled with sympathetic liberal journalists, it was often left up to right-leaning Fox News to confront Jeane-Pierre with challenging questions. Fox News viewers would not be surprised that Steve Doocy led that charge, such as questioning Biden’s mental fitness almost a year ago, five months before the Trump-Biden debate would change the course of the Nov. 5 election for good.
Despite the fact Biden’s mental struggles would emerge as a huge issue, the press secretary called Doocy’s question “a little confusing to me." She then accused him of asking the question of behalf of his “favorite president,” referring to Trump.
In a second memorable exchange, Doocy asked the President’s press secretary why he made up a crazy story about his uncle, Bosie Finnegan. A second lieutenant in World War 2, Finnegan was a passenger on a plane that was forced to ditch into the Pacific Ocean, killing all three aboard.
“Why is President Biden saying he was shot down? There's no evidence of that,” Doocy said. “And why is he saying that his uncle was eaten by cannibals?”
Jean-Pierre replied that her boss was having an “emotional” and “symbolic” moment reflecting on his uncle’s service during World War 2.
For Houck, who is managing editor of Newsbusters, Doocy’s challenging questions to Jean-Pierre became so noteworthy that he began describing them as “Doocy Time” in his X account.
Back in Houck’s list of White House moment, he also credits Fox News correspondents Jacqui Henrich and Edward Lawrence for challenging Jean-Pierre.
“Why are you repeating this false claim that Republicans voted to reduce the number of Border Patrol agents,” Henrick pressed, “even though the Washington Post gave the administration three Pinocchios for that?”
After the press secretary hemmed and hawed wth an answer, Henrick went in for the kill. She asked Jean-Pierre if she agreed voters know the difference between a “truthful statement and what is spin, and is it insulting to them to keep saying it when it was — it’s just not true?”
The press secretary’s answer was a nervous laugh. “One thing the president does not do,” she replied, “is insult voters.”
After documenting four years of Biden’s term, Houck says Karine Jean-Pierre might have been the perfect press secretary for the Biden administration.
“She was a really strong symbol of the Biden presidency and who Joe Biden is: the stammering, the confusion, the searching for an answer to a question,” he summarizes.
As far as Doocy, he often stood out as a fearless questioner of Biden's mental state at the White House press briefings. His years of questions were finally validated by an explosive Wall Street Journal story, published Dec. 19, that confirmed the White House covered up Biden's mental decline.
Back on Fox News, reacting to the story, Doocy told his colleagues he had a "front row seat" to what was happening to President Biden but was told "not to believe what I was seeing or hearing."
The main person publicly pushing that false claim, at least to the national media, was Karine Jean-Pierre.
