Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, would not specify why President Joe Biden was not alerted about the baby formula shortfall until April, as she struggled to address questions about the administration’s response to the situation on Thursday.
During her daily press briefing, Jean-Pierre was frequently questioned about what the president knew, when he knew it, and who told him.
She also supplied deceptive replies, claiming that the information was delivered through “normal channels” by “senior staff.”
One White House correspondent warned her that the journalists would continue to hound her for information if she didn’t provide them.
Given the range of issues that an administration deals with on a daily basis, it’s not uncommon for top staff to be aware of an issue before the president is. The Biden administration also had to deal with the Ukraine conflict, rising inflation, and supply chain problems. In March, Biden also visited Brussels and Poland.
However, Jean-Pierre refused to identify who decided to bring it to Biden, when it happened, or how the decision to flag information for the president was made.
‘The president deals with challenges on a daily basis, and it’s up to him to resolve them.’ And it’s only that I can’t point you to anyone in particular. However, we proceed in the usual manner through the usual channels. I don’t have a particular individual in mind, but that’s how it goes with any issue, not just this one. ‘It goes through the normal processes and is handled by top White House employees,’ she explained.
Jean-Pierre struggled to answer questions on the administration’s response to the issue for the second day in a row, as the White House has been chastised for failing to move quickly enough to get formula on store shelves.
She was interrogated by reporters on Wednesday, and when asked about the subject again on Thursday, she had no additional answers.