White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dodged a straightforward question: is Joe Biden ‘woke’? Newsmax chief White House correspondent James Rosen pitched the question during Tuesday’s press briefing.
“One of the most prominent themes that we hear from both elected Republicans and candidates has to do with what is called woke-ism,” Rosen began.
“And so, we hear so much talk about ‘woke capitalism,’ a ‘woke military,’ and so on. And by way of trying to clarify this for the American people, I wonder if we couldn’t begin with a threshold question to wit:
is President Biden woke?”
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The question got a reaction from several other reporters in the White House briefing room. A handful showed surprise at the question; some struggled not to laugh.
But Jean-Pierre still did not offer a straight answer. Instead, she diverted to a rant about Republicans and accused them of putting politics before the American people.
“The President doesn’t concern himself about what Republicans are trying to do in political stunts – in making an issue out of the things that they feel benefits them politically, not the American people, not what matters to the American people, but what benefits them politically for their own, for their own ability to move forward.”
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Rosen said the subject of ‘wokeness’ reminded him of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s views on ‘obscenity’ which was that “he couldn’t define it, but he knew it when he saw it.” The term entered mainstream use during the Black Lives Matter protests of the 2010s and was used to describe activists “alert to and concerned about social injustice and discrimination.” Since then, conservatives have adopted it to describe left-wing social policy and expanded it to include the corporate and educational fields.
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“So you wouldn’t describe him as ‘woke’?” Rosen asked, trying to extract a simple yes-or-no.
But Jean-Pierre wasn’t interested in answering, instead launching another unrelated tirade accusing Republicans of trying to cut social security funding.
“It seemed like a simple question — is [Joe Biden] woke?” Rosen tweeted later about the exchange. “But [Karine Jean-Pierre] declined two opportunities to describe him that way and instead focused on Social Security and Medicare.”
It seemed like a simple question — is @POTUS woke? — but @PressSec declined two opportunities to describe him that way, and instead focused on Social Security and Medicare. https://t.co/7rwazVMZ3L
— James Rosen (@JamesRosenTV) February 14, 2023
During Tuesday’s briefing, Rosen also tried to get Jean-Pierre to discuss Joe Biden’s communications skills and whether he had any weaknesses or strong suits in one particular area over another.
“Is it the view of the President’s communications team that he is equally adept in all settings in terms of communications?” Rosen asked.
President Biden’s Press Secretary says he is the best communicator in the administration. pic.twitter.com/xjZ0M8W1Kv
— News Bro (@Newzbro) February 14, 2023
“I will tell you this,” Jean-Pierre replied, straight-faced. “The President is the best communicator that we have in the White House.”
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Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently slammed President Joe Biden after his State of the Union address, accusing him of leaning into “woke fantasies.”
Sanders, a former White House press secretary herself, warned, “While they reap the consequences of their failures, the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day.” She continued, “Most Americans simply want to live their lives in freedom and peace, but we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight.”
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