Amateur hour at the White House briefing room
by Joe Concha, Opinion Contributor - 05/22/22 8:00 AM ET
Karine Jean-Pierre made her historic debut as White House press secretary this week. And after watching her first four performances as the president’s spokesperson, only one word sums it all up: amateur.
To be sure, White House press secretary is one of the hardest white-collar jobs in the world, if not the hardest. Oftentimes, as we witnessed with Jean-Pierre’s predecessor, Jen Psaki, the job calls for defending the indefensible. And when 79 percent of voters believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, and when the public’s approval of the president’s handling of the economy and the border is languishing in the 20s, that’s not a job most would sign up for.
But Jean-Pierre isn’t just a victim of bad luck regarding the president for whom she works. This early conclusion comes after watching this press secretary read answers to questions, oftentimes for extended periods of time, verbatim.
The confidence simply is not there, nor is the conviction. Consider this exchange between the new press secretary and Peter Doocy on Monday after the Fox News White House correspondent read the following tweet from Biden on May 16.
“You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share,” the president tweeted.
more
https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/3496791-amateur-hour-at-the-white-house-briefing-room/