During a tense press conference on Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre faced intense questioning from journalists regarding President Joe Biden’s connections to international networks.
The focus was on text messages that allegedly hinted at a link between President Biden and his son Hunter’s business dealings abroad.
IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley had previously informed Congress about an incident involving Hunter Biden and Chinese businessman Henry Zhao, where Hunter purportedly used his father’s presence as leverage and issued a veiled warning.
Newsmax’s James Rosen pressed White House National Security Council’s John Kirby for clarification on the text message’s implications for President Biden’s previous claims of unawareness about his son’s business affairs. However, Kirby left without providing an answer.
The New York Times’ Peter Baker then pressed for a response, emphasizing the importance of addressing whether the president was involved in coercive conversations related to his son’s business.
Jean-Pierre deflected by stating that her colleague at the White House counsel had already addressed the question, leading to more inquiries from the press corps demanding a direct answer.
Steven Nelson from the New York Post challenged Jean-Pierre, asking if the president was involved in the alleged shakedown attempt.
Jean-Pierre responded by insisting that she had already answered the question and asserted that it wasn’t up to Nelson to dictate her response.
When Rosen asked if Jean-Pierre still stood by her previous endorsement of Biden’s denial of knowledge about overseas business dealings, she replied with a brief “Nothing has changed.”
As Nelson prepared to ask another question, Jean-Pierre shifted to CBS News’ Weijia Jiang.
Jiang inquired about whether the president was present during the mentioned text message incident, to which Jean-Pierre repeated her referral to the White House counsel.
NBC News’ Monica Alba attempted to delve into Jean-Pierre’s personal interactions with the president, but Jean-Pierre clarified that she hadn’t discussed the matter with him and indicated that she had no intention of doing so.
