White House breaks silence on viral Biden and Obama moment at Ethel Kennedy’s funeral
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke about the now-viral moment between Joe Biden and Barack Obama as they whispered to each other at Ethel Kennedy’s funeral.
During the service for the Kennedy matriarch, Biden and Obama were caught on camera having an intense conversation.
Lip reader Jeremy Freeman deciphered their chat for DailyMail.com, leading to speculation that they were discussing Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of winning the White House.
Biden appeared to tell Obama that “she’s not as strong as me,” as the former president responded, “I know… that’s true… we have time.”
When Jean-Pierre was asked about it on Thursday aboard Air Force One en route to Berlin, he did not give a clear answer and made an unfortunate blunder.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that she had been “pretty busy” and had not asked President Joe Biden about his viral conversation with former President Barack Obama at Ethel Kennedy’s funeral. She was photographed during Wednesday’s briefing
“The plane has been quite busy the last few hours, as you can imagine,” she answered first.
Jean-Pierre appeared alongside National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who was peppered with questions about Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
“Look, I will say this: the president really appreciated being at the funeral of Ethel Kennedy, who he saw as someone who is incredible and who was obviously an incredible force in her life throughout her years,” Jean-replied Pierre.
“And what he wanted to do was lift her up and speak about her achievement and what she meant to him, not just to him but to her family and to the country,” the press secretary continued. “So he appreciated doing that.”
Here she sought the answer calling Biden the “former president.”
“And we have often said that the president and former President Biden have a very close relationship,” Jean-Pierre noted.
Biden has three months and three days left in his term.
Lip reader Jeremy Freeman told DailyMail.com that President Joe Biden (left) appeared to tell former President Barack Obama that “she’s not as strong as me,” with the former president responding, “I know… that’s true… . we have time’
It was clear she meant former President Obama.
“Obviously they’ve had one for a long time, since he was vice president,” she added.
“I have nothing further to say about that,” Jean-Pierre added. “I haven’t had this conversation with the president. Obviously we’ve been quite busy on the plane for the last few hours,” she reiterated.
Obama has openly expressed his concerns about the upcoming elections.
Last week in Pittsburgh, Obama expressed frustration to a group of black men that the demographic was more willing to support him, a man, than Harris, who could become the first female president and the first female president of color.
“We haven’t seen the same kind of energy and turnout in all areas of our neighborhoods and communities that we saw when I was running. Now I also want to say that that seems to be more clear with the brothers,” Obama said.