Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre wouldn’t bite the bullet Thursday when asked if President Joe Biden was feeling “tired” or “under the weather,” prompting him to buy a CPAP machine to treat his sleep apnea.
The president was spotted on the South Lawn on Wednesday with nicks in his face, which the White House later confirmed to DailyMail.com and other outlets were caused by the mask being worn with the machine.
Jean-Pierre also had no answer when a reporter asked why the president boarded Air Force One via a shorter flight of stairs — which he has done more often since falling over a sandbag at the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony earlier this year .
Instead, Jean-Pierre pointed to Biden’s physical that the White House released in February, which she called “more comprehensive and extensive” than anything previous administrations produced.
The reporter pointed out that the decision for Biden to start using a CPAP machine and the new stumbling blocks happened in recent weeks, not months.
“But it’s this year,” she replied. And it’s been extensive. It has been all-encompassing. More than any other president, that remains a fact. And we’ve been quite transparent about that.’
Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked on Thursday about President Joe Biden, 80, who used a CPAP machine and wouldn’t bite when asked if the president was feeling “tired.” The White House revealed the use of the CPAC after Biden was seen with nicks on his face on Wednesday
Jean-Pierre was asked if President Joe Biden took the shorter flight of stairs (left) more often to disembark Air Force One than the higher flight of stairs (right) due to several falls, including over a sandbag earlier this month, and the takeoff of the presidential plane stairs
Jean-Pierre boasted that the White House “reacted very quickly” when reporters on Wednesday began asking questions about why there were lines on the president’s face.
They were visible in photos taken while he engaged in a question-and-answer session on the South Lawn before his trip to Chicago.
But she was unable to provide details about if any reason Biden’s doctor decided to treat his sleep apnea now, since sleep apnea has been part of the president’s public medical record since 2008, when he ran for vice president.
“One of the things I can say is I think the most important thing is it sleeps better, right? I think that’s one of the reasons why it was, it was kind of added,” she said aboard Air Force One on Thursday.
A reporter then asked if Biden was feeling tired or exhausted.
“I’m not going to get into how the president feels,” she said.
“What I can say is that one of the most important things is sleeping better,” she continued.
She added that it was “something that has been done in recent weeks.”
“I don’t have a specific date for that,” she said. “But it allows, which I think is very important for the president — you know — to make sure he gets as much sleep as possible.”
Jean-Pierre was questioned about Biden’s health after he started using a CPAP machine and tripped several times in recent months
The journalist then pointed to Biden’s spill in Colorado, which followed the handful of times the president had stumbled up the stairs of Air Force One.
Also, Biden fell off his bike last June during a trip to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
The reporter asked Jean-Pierre if these falls led him to start using the shorter steps to board the presidential plane — as he had done earlier Thursday, en route to New York.
“I don’t have to go through a decision process,” Jean-Pierre replied. “I’m sure there’s a protocol used for Air Force One, I just don’t have one.”
Past presidents have used the shorter flights of stairs to board and disembark from Air Force One in inclement weather.
‘I mean, you see the president every day, when it comes to mobility, the president always says watch him,” Jean-Pierre also said. “This is a president, let’s not forget, he went to a war zone in Ukraine and did it in a way that was incredibly effective. The world has seen him out there and met President Zelensky and I think that’s incredibly important.”
Biden secretly traveled to Ukraine in February, taking a 10-hour train ride to and from Kiev.
He then made his scheduled stop in Warsaw, Poland.
Biden tripped on the steps of Air Force One as he left for the United States.
Again, Jean-Pierre was asked if any of these behavioral changes represented a medical change in the president – who, at 80, is the oldest in the country.
“So look, if you look at what we’ve put forward in terms of his medical report, the president’s medical report, that’s more comprehensive and comprehensive than any other president,” she said.