The question of whether or not the President of the United States is concerned about the growing hatred of Jews in America is not just a softball – it’s a beach ball on a batting tee.
But somehow White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stepped in and missed — not once, not twice, but three times.
KJP isn’t just gone, she should be ashamed. But instead, the White House’s top speaker is trying to dig his way out of it.
Not on my watch.
“What is (President Biden’s) concern right now about the possible rise of anti-Semitism in light of everything happening in Israel?” a reporter asked in the White House briefing room on Monday.
A stunned Jean-Pierre looked down at the stage and her trusty black folder of pre-approved answers.
“Look, we haven’t seen any credible threats,” she barked without any response. “I know there have always been questions about credible threats.”
There were in fact no ‘credible threats’.
There was a very benign inquiry into what Biden thinks about America’s city streets and college campuses filled by hysterical activists advocating the murder of Jews.
Then Jean-Pierre looked at her conversation topics and bizarrely turned away.
“Look, Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim have suffered a disproportionate number of hate-fueled attacks.”
I’m sorry, what? Even some Democrats were alarmed by the blundering Binder Queen.
KJP isn’t just gone, she should be ashamed. But instead, the White House’s top speaker is trying to dig his way out of it
There was a very benign inquiry into what Biden thinks about America’s city streets and college campuses being filled by hysterical activists advocating the murder of Jews.
“What a weak answer,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz thundered on Twitter. ‘Why are you looking at the book? What is the approved answer? The simple answer is: yes, you are concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism…’
After that horrific press conference, a humiliated Jean-Pierre tried to clear things up in a lame way – with a tweet.
“To be clear, the president and our team are deeply concerned about the rise in anti-Semitism.”
Sorry, if you need to clarify your position on something as obvious as anti-Semitism – you have failed. Either our machine in the White House has blown a fuse, or we are witnessing in real time a government losing its backbone.
I suspect the latter.
Perhaps most tellingly, it wasn’t until nearly 24 hours later that Jean-Pierre issued another statement claiming this was all a big misunderstanding.
“I misunderstood the question,” she claimed.
Real?
At my most charitable (and in full recognition of the fact that the second-worst communicator in the White House after the president is ironically his press secretary), I can give KJP the benefit of the doubt, but not here.
Look at how she repeatedly downplayed the growing threat of anti-Semitism during that press conference.
“Does the president consider anti-Israel protests and sentiments on college campuses as anti-Semitism?” asked another journalist.
“So look,” she sighed, seemingly annoyed, “I’m not going to get into what’s happening across the country at – at different universities. I’m not going to go into the details…the First Amendment, right?’
Right. But the First Amendment protects heinous speech, it does not prevent a sitting president from condemning it. And when has this White House been held back by the First Amendment before?
Here is KJP in April amid conservative backlash over Bud Light’s sponsorship of transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney: “We should be able to speak out… against hate and discrimination. That kind of dangerous rhetoric, that kind of vitriolic language and violence, that has to stop.”
To see? Not so hard.
So why does the White House freely denounce those who use the wrong pronouns but freeze when it comes to condemning calls for murder?
Florida Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz slammed Jean-Pierre on X Monday for her response calling it “weak” and asking why she had to flip through her briefing book to say the rise of anti-Semitism was concerning
“So look,” KJP sighed, seemingly irritated, “I’m not going to get into what’s happening across the country at – at different universities. I’m not going to go into the details…the First Amendment, right?’
Biden’s own FBI, DHS and National Counterterrorism Center are not dismissing the threat so easily. They warned this week that rising numbers of domestic hate crimes indicate “targeted violence” against Jews, Muslims and Arabs will increase.
And what about last weekend’s violent “Flood Brooklyn for Palestine” protests in New York City, where thousands marched in support of Hamas’s goals?
Wasn’t that in the folder?
Protesters blocked traffic, reportedly threw eggs at police, lit fires in the streets and fought with police, who tried to calm them down.
“We call for the complete liberation of all of Palestine… every inch of it, from the river to the sea,” one protester shouted, echoing calls from Islamist terrorists to wipe Israel off the map.
“Say it loud, say it clear, we don’t want any Zionists here,” a cute rhyme, but bigoted, right?
‘We will liberate Palestine within our lifetime!’ Others shouted, holding signs that read, “Resistance is justified when people are occupied,” in blatant support for the slaughter of innocents.
It’s more Beirut than Bay Ridge.
And it is inconceivable that President Biden, who recently preached that “silence” in the face of bigotry “is complicity,” would take an opportunity to condemn support for terrorists.
Maybe the third time would be the charm for Biden’s mouthpiece.
No.
Asked whether the president has plans to directly address deeply misguided college students who cheer for the murder of Jews, Jean-Pierre said, “I have nothing to say about any specific conversations or outreach the president will do with students. .’
It is inconceivable that President Biden, who recently preached that “silence” in the face of bigotry “is complicity,” would take an opportunity to condemn support for terrorists. Maybe the third time would be the charm for Biden’s mouthpiece. No.
On Tuesday afternoon, she was back on stage with a new statement in front of her, and this time she said the right things. But I can’t help but feel sick to my stomach.
She borrowed the language of the left: did she tell her truth the first time or the second time?
For me it is not a question. And what’s really alarming about all this is how quickly the cowardice set in.
When the war between Israel and Gaza first broke out, the press secretary was a bright shining ethical light who criticized the progressive Democrats and left-wing lunatics who refused to denounce Hamas.
“We will remain very clear,” she scolded at the time. “We believe they are wrong. We find them disgusting and disgraceful.”
Good for her. But by “continue” she apparently meant the next two weeks.
Now Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib continues to push Hamas propaganda blaming Israel for an attack on the Baptist Hospital in Gaza, which is widely blamed on terrorists, the White House has no more say.
As the United Nations Secretary General suggests on Tuesday that Israeli policies somehow led to the Hamas attacks – we hear nothing.
You can feel the tectonic plates of public support shifting under Israel – and I fear the White House is being pulled along with it.
Could it be that political calculations are getting in the way of their conscience?
‘Americans and Muslims Americans like me. We will remember where you stood,” Tlaib ominously warned the White House last week.
Is the White House concerned about losing the party’s anti-Israel fringe? Is that what makes it so difficult for Jean-Pierre to condemn the increasing hatred of Jews in America?
Whatever the reason, it’s bad news for America and even worse for American Jews, who now walk around with a target on their backs.
The moral clarity in the White House is becoming increasingly cloudy when we should have it at its most clear.
