Karine Jean-Pierre in clean-up mode: Biden’s press secretary condemns the tearing down of Hamas hostage posters β moments after telling reporters she had “kind of seen the reporting” and “couldn’t go into details”
- βI’ve seen the reporting a little bit here and there,β she said
- She was asked about clashes over ‘kidnapped’ posters of Israelis
- Her statement said the removal of hostage posters was “wrong and hurtful.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre made her comments clear during her Tuesday briefing after initially dodging a question about pro-Palestinian protesters tearing down posters of hostage Israelis held in Gaza.
βTurning down photos of their loved ones β who are being held hostage by Hamas β is wrong and hurtful,β she wrote in a message. after to X, after previously failing to provide a clear answer to a question about clashes over the posters.
Jean-Pierre was asked Tuesday about clashes between pro-Israel protesters who took hostages of some of the approximately 240 hostages still held in Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.
She was asked about videos of individuals tearing down these posters, and whether the White House believed these actions “should be condemned.”
βI haven’t β I’ve seen a bit of the coverage here and there,β she replied, indicating some familiarity before quickly dropping the subject. “I think it was from last week, right?” she said.
βThere are about 30 million videosβ about it on the Internet, NBC’s White House correspondent Peter Alexander interjected.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre cleaned up her first comment when she avoided a direct response to a question about people tearing up posters of the faces of Israeli hostages in Gaza
‘Yes, I hear you. I’m just not going to do it, I’m not going to do it,β she replied.
βIs that a peaceful protest to take that down or should you not do that?β he asked her bluntly.
βI’m just not going to go into details on that specific topic,β she said, before moving on to the topic of βviolentβ protests.
βWhat I can say is that there are real violent protests and threats happening right now. And senior government officials are aware of these reports, which are deeply concerning,β she said.
The question was a reference to incidents such as the angry construction workers in New York City who confronted a man caught pulling down posters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Shortly after her briefing ended, Jean-Pierre messaged X to clean up her initial response.
The ‘kidnapped’ posters are a stark reminder of those held in Gaza for a month
She was asked about images such as that of a group of angry New York construction workers confronting a man caught pulling down posters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
Jean-Pierre clarified her response with a post after the end of the briefing
βAs a result of Hamas terror attacks, communities and families are in mourning. For the past month, the families of those held hostage have lived in terror. Destroying photos of their loved ones β who are being held hostage by Hamas β is wrong and hurtful,β she said in the post.
She was direct, however, when Alexander asked her whether the president thought it was appropriate “for people to lay their hands stained with red blood on the outside of the White House.”
βIt’s clearly not clearly not,β she said, after pro-Palestinian protesters left the markings on the stone structures surrounding the White House. Some red spots were still visible Tuesday on a printed map of the White House campus just outside the gates.
The exchanges came on a day when White House national security spokesman John Kirby began the briefing by noting the one-month anniversary of the brutal attack that killed 1,400 Israelis. He also spoke of the “many, many thousands” of innocent Palestinians he said had been killed in Gaza under Israeli bombardments.