Karine Jean-Pierre laughs at claims Biden is an ‘election denier’ after saying defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe was the ‘real’ governor of Virginia
- Biden on Tuesday called McAuliffe the “real governor” of the commonwealth
- McAuliffe was in the audience at Biden’s campaign event
- Jean-Pierre said Biden was “joking” and did not deny the results
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre dismissed Republican criticism of President Biden’s joke that Democrat Terry McAuliffe was the “real” governor of Virginia.
The president made the comment at the very top of his campaign rally in Manassas Tuesday, where his speech marked the 51st anniversary of the presidential election. Roe v. Wade was repeatedly interrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators.
“Hello, Virginia… and the real Governor, Terry McAuliffe!” Biden said at the top, pointing to McAuliffe, who was sitting near the front. McAuliffe was defeated by Republican Glenn Youngkin, and several Republicans responded to the comment, saying it meant Biden was denying the outcome of the election.
“Hello, Virginia… and the real Governor, Terry McAuliffe!”
Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre about the comment during Wednesday’s White House press conference.
“Hello, Virginia… and the real Governor, Terry McAuliffe!” President Biden said this on Tuesday at the summit of his meeting in Manassas
“He was joking,” she said when asked about the comment.
“I mean, if you play it back, it’s clear the president was joking. “He was joking about McAuliffe’s previous term as governor,” she said.
“How are you going to convince people that denying the election results is bad when Biden is making jokes?”
‘He didn’t deny it. He congratulated Gov. Youngkin on winning his election. He did it out of the gate… He congratulated the governor, and not only that, we have had the opportunity to work with the governor over the years,” she said.
Biden gestured to Democrat Terry McAuliffe, calling him the “real governor” despite losing in 2021. Governor Glenn Youngkin responded to a clip of the speech on X, saying, “I’m here.” The White House said the sentence was a joke
After Republicans responded to the comment Tuesday night, Governor Youngkin responded to the video on X: “Mr. President, I’m here.’
Sen. Tommy Tuberbville of Alabama, who clashed with Biden while blocking military officer promotions, responded: ‘I thought something like this was ‘a threat to democracy’.
“This man doesn’t have an ounce of integrity,” he added.
“Election denial is only bad if your name is Trump,” said conservative TV commentator Megyn Kelly.
The setback came on a night when former President Donald Trump claimed to have won the 2020 election, which he did not.
“They used Covid to cheat,” Trump claimed. After saying he had won the 2016 election, he said: ‘we won in 2020 too – by more. And we did a lot better in 2020 than we did in 2016. … But like they said, we just lost by a hair.”
Biden defeated Trump by 7 million votes and prevailed in the Electoral College.