White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre shut down an attempted question from Fox News’ White House correspondent during a briefing after he asked about the influx of migrants at the southern border.
Peter Doocy asked, “So what do you call it here at the White House when 10,000 people illegally cross the border in a single day?”
“What do you call it, Peter, when GOP puts forth…” Ms Jean-Pierre started saying when Doocy interrupted, with his arm extended toward her, as if asking her to stop.
“No, no, no, you can’t,” she said before looking away from him and saying, “OK, we’re gonna move on! We’re moving on!”
“Karine, please” Doocy pleaded. “You said you were stopping the flow at the border–”
The press secretary kept saying “no” and explained her decision: “Peter, I tried to answer the question. You stopped me! Let’s go!”
She then called on another reporter.
Ms Jean-Pierre and Doocy have a history of fiery exchanges.
Earlier this month, the Fox News correspondent appeared to accidentally defend Mr Biden’s busy schedule when the president was in Vietnam.
“He has been basically working all through the night, the equivalent of an all-nighter, Eastern time,” Doocy reported from Vietnam on Sunday, while awaiting a press conference from Biden, who landed in Hanoi after attending the G20 summit in New Delhi. “So, he’s probably pretty tired. Pretty jet-lagged.”
“But,” he stumbled, seeming to realise that he had just undermined the “Sleepy Joe” narrative that many right-wing outlets are pushing, adding, “he should take at least a handful” of questions.
In response, Ms Jean-Pierre wrote on Twitter: “Thank you, Peter.”
Earlier this year, Doocy asked a question about AI that amused Ms Jean-Pierre.
“There’s an expert from the Machine Intelligence Research Institute who says that ‘If there is not an indefinite pause on AI development’ — this is a quote — ‘literally everyone on Earth will die,’” Doocy said, asking. “Would you agree that does not sound good?”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre chuckled before replying: “Your delivery, Peter, it’s — it’s quite something.”
The press secretary also previously called one of his questions “ridiculous.”
