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Former Republican Rep. Doug Collins criticized first lady Jill Biden on Friday morning for coming between her husband, President Joe Biden, and reporters who were asking questions about the classified documents debacle.
“This has really become concerning because no one, frankly in fairness to the first lady, no one chose her to answer questions from the president on issues that the press may have questioned,” Collins said. said on Fox & Friends.
The Bidens hosted a Lunar New Year event Thursday night in the East Room, and as they departed, they brushed off a series of questions about the discovery of classified documents, including whether the president would green light a search of the Rehoboth home. Beach.
First lady Jill Biden stepped between reporters and her husband, President Joe Biden, as they were leaving the White House Lunar New Year celebration Thursday night, when asked if she would allow a search for classified documents in your Rehoboth Beach. house
Earlier, Dr. Biden convinced the president to take the stage to mark the conclusion of a dragon dance performance.
‘You are going to dance?’ the president asked the first lady when the troupe finished its performance and there was an awkward pause.
‘No, you’re going up. …Come on, Joe! No, you’re not going to dance,” Dr. Biden responded, as the president sneered that he could. “Trust me, you don’t want to ruin the evening,” added the first lady.
The president touted that the White House was hosting the “first Lunar New Year reception of this scale” during Thursday night’s event, adding that he had received California Rep. Judy Chu’s blessing to host the joyous event, after of two mass shootings. that took place in Asian American communities.
I spoke with Judy several days ago. I said, “Judy, what should I do? Should I continue? Should I be in California or should I still have this celebration?” And she felt it very strongly,’ said the president. ‘She said we have to move on. Her message was not to give in to fear and sadness. Do not do that. Maintaining solidarity and the spirit of toughness, that’s what this holiday is all about’.
President Joe Biden watches the Choy Wun Lion Dance Company perform a dragon dance at the White House Lunar New Year celebration Thursday night.
Dr. Biden convinced her husband to return to the stage at the end of the group’s performance, but jokingly told him not to dance.
President Joe Biden greeted attendees Thursday as he departed for the Lunar New Year event, but did not answer questions from reporters about the classified documents debacle.
“This has really become concerning because no one, frankly to be fair to the first lady, no one picked her to answer questions from the president on issues that the press may have questioned,” former Rep. Doug Collins said Friday morning on Fox. left). & Friends
Across the country, Lunar New Year celebrations have been characterized by sadness after a gunman killed 11 people in Monterey Park, California, at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, after a festival of All-day Lunar New Year on an adjacent street on Saturday.
Chu represents Monterey Park in the House.
The shooter, identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, tried to kill more people at the nearby Lai Lai dance hall, but was scared off by a worker.
Biden said he had called Brandon Tsay, 26, who had stopped the rampage.
The president commented that Tsay had “followed his courage.”
“It’s pretty deep,” Biden said.
The attacker was found dead in his car from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The incident, while not racially motivated, prompted increased security at Lunar New Year celebrations across the country as anti-Asian sentiment has risen since the advent of the coronavirus pandemic.
Vice President Kamala Harris brought a bouquet of flowers to a makeshift memorial outside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio while visiting Monterey Park, California on Wednesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris looks at the makeshift memorial for shooting victims that was built outside the Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California, after a gunman killed 11 people on Saturday.
The president acknowledged the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans during the event.
“Silence is complicity,” he told the East Room crowd.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who represented California in the United States Senate, expressed her condolences to the relatives in Monterey Park on Wednesday.
Biden noted that Harris has “deep ties to the area” and was just coming back.
Also, on Monday, another gunman, identified as Chunli Zhao, 66, opened fire on two farms in the predominantly Asian-American community.
The president and the first lady observed a minute of silence for the victims.
Then they moved on to the liveliest part of the show.
First Lady Jill Biden (right) approaches Elaine Tso (center), CEO of Asian Services in Action, who introduced President Joe Biden (left) at the Lunar New Year event
President Joe Biden cheers on a dragon dance performed by the Choy Wun Lion Dance Company in the East Room of the White House on Thursday night.
President Joe Biden stood front row to watch the dragon dance, after boasting that his White House was the first to host a Lunar New Year event “of this scale.”
The dancers brought the dragon to its full standing during the dance and unrolled a scroll wishing health and prosperity for the new year.
“Jill and I are honored to welcome you to the first Lunar New Year reception of this scale to be held at the White House, your home,” the president said, adding, “Jill and I are temporary residents in this house”.
An audience member responded: ‘Not too temporary.’
‘God, I love you,’ the president responded.
He pointed out how in many Asian cultures it is the year of the rabbit, but in Vietnam it is the year of the cat, applauding the animal for being ‘majestic’ and its ‘persistence’.
“By the way, that sounds like our cat Willow,” the president commented. Willow can come in here at any time. She has no limits. You think I’m kidding, I’m not. Especially in the middle of the night when she climbs on top of my head.
He also applauded the film, Everything Everywhere All at Once, with a largely Asian cast, which earned 11 Academy Award nominations.
And while talking about it being a time to celebrate, he broke off by telling the crowd, ‘no firecrackers tonight.’
‘Not seriously. She was thinking about it, you know? If things hadn’t been the way they have been for the last two years, we should have been fireworks outside,” Biden said. ‘Celebrating with firecrackers and dancing – we have dancing.’
The White House had the Choy Wun Lion Dance Company perform a dragon dance for several minutes as the president marveled from the front row.