'She Hung Up': Karine Jean-Pierre Abruptly Ends Interview After Host Asks if President Joe Biden, 81, Has Dementia
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre abruptly ended an interview this week after the host asked if President Joe Biden suffered from dementia, RadarOnline.com has learned.
The surprising incident unfolded on Tuesday as Jean-Pierre called in for a radio interview with North Carolina radio host Mark Garrison.
But the call quickly took a turn for the worse when Garrison asked Jean-Pierre one question in particular: “Does the president have dementia?”
“I can't even believe you're asking me this question,” Jean-Pierre responded. “That is an incredibly offensive question to ask.”
“No – you're taking us down this rabbit hole,” she continued. “Let me be very clear about this.”
Jean-Pierre then directed the conversation toward President Biden’s record rather than the concerns about his age and fitness for office.
“This is a president, if you watch him every day if you really pay attention to his record, what he has done, you will see exactly how focused he has been on the American people,” she said.
The already tense interview continued, and Garrison went on to ask Jean-Pierre about inflation and the consequences that the issue of inflation might have at the general election voting booths in November.
“How does Mr. Biden win votes when people don't have as much disposable income,” Garrison pressed Jean-Pierre on Tuesday.
“The president understands. He grew up in a middle class family, working class family in Scranton, Pennsylvania,” she responded. “He gets it.”
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“We're in a different place than we were a year ago on gas prices, on eggs, milk and seafood products,” Biden’s press secretary added.
Flash forward to a few moments later, and Jean-Pierre abruptly ended the radio interview.
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“Thank you so much, Mark, have an amazing, amazing day,” Jean-Pierre said before the call ended.
“Wow,” Garrison responded. “She hung up.”
According to the White House, Jean-Pierre did not end the interview because of Garrison’s dementia and inflation questions but rather because the press secretary had “multiple back-to-back interviews with radio stations.”
“As she often does when the President travels, Karine had multiple back-to-back interviews with radio stations who were each offered 7 minutes,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates explained.
“Once the agreed-upon time was over, she called into the next interview so everyone could get their full time,” he added.
The White House also accused Garrison of editing his interview with Jean-Pierre on Tuesday to make it seem like she ended the call sooner, and more abruptly, than she actually did.
“This particular station chose not to air the full interview and instead artificially attached a sound effect that our phones do not make when calls end,” Bates explained.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, President Biden visited North Carolina on Tuesday to campaign for his 2024 re-election bid.
While a new poll published this week found that Biden continues to gain ground against Donald Trump in the race for the 2024 White House, the poll also showed that Biden still trailed Trump by 6% in North Carolina.