In strange exchange, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to let the White House’s pandemic coordinator, Dr. Ashish Jha, answer whether schools would open this fall.
“Doctor, do you believe all schools will and must be open this coming fall?” a reporter asked.
“We gotta go, you have to go, he has to go, we’re over time,” Jean-Pierre said as she quickly moved to remove him from the microphone.
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn posted the moment on her Twitter and said it is “unbelievable we’re still having this conversation. Our schools should be open — period.”
Jean-Pierre can be seen placing her hands on Jha and stopping him from discussing the matter further.
Dr. Jha tells reporters before exiting the room, “Sorry. I’m going to run off.”
The doctor used the conference to discuss what the administration will do if the FDA authorizes vaccines for children younger than five and said that they could get “shots into arms” as early as June 21. The FDA will soon be meeting on about this.
Many people questioned the moment online and roasted Jean-Pierre for preventing the doctor from answering a very simple question.
“WOW – a reporter asks if the White House COVID coordinator believes all schools “will and must be open this fall,” reacted Matt Whitlock to the video.
Brian Sullivan tweeted poignantly in response, “Whatever Dr. Jha had to do .. it wasn’t as important as spending 30 secs addressing the critical issue that millions of American kids *will* be in school this fall. Parents – particularly in half the country where schools shut down for long periods of time – need to hear that.”
It is unclear why the Biden administration would not want an official statement on re-opening schools this fall.
However, it shows Jean-Pierre’s troubling trend of refusing to answer questions.
Jean-Pierre Refuses To Answer Reporters’ Question On Biden and The Baby Formula Crisis (Watch Now)
On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre started to get short with reporters after they repeatedly asked her questions about President Joe Biden and his knowledge of the baby formula shortage.
The questions come a day after Biden admitted to not learning about the baby formula crisis until April. His statement is different than his White House economic advisor and Jean-Pierre’s statements on when the administration knew about the crisis.
How would you rate Jean-Pierre’s performance as Press Secretary with 10 being the best? Tell us your thoughts below.
