Joe Biden in one of his rare public appearances this Wednesday made what many would call his worst gaffe of the year. He asked if late Republican Congresswoman, Rep. Jackie Walorski (IN) was attending his speech in Washington D.C.
Rep. Walorski passed away in August 2022 in a fatal car crash.
While addressing the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, Biden appeared to ask if the late congresswoman was watching him from the crowd.
“I want to thank all of you here, including bipartisan elected officials like Rep. McGovern, Sen. Braun, Sen. Booker, Rep. — Jackie, are you here?” the President said near the top of his remarks. “Where’s Jackie? I thought she was going to be here — to help make this a reality.”
“We may have represented different parties and disagreed on many issues, but she was respected by members of both parties for her work on the House Ways and Means Committee on which she served,” he continued. “She also served as co-chair of the House Hunger Caucus, and my team and I appreciated her partnership as we plan for a historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health this fall that will be marked by her deep care for the needs of rural America.”
BIDEN: "Representative Jackie, are you here? Where's Jackie? She must not be here…"
Rep. Jackie Walorski was killed in a car accident in August along with two of her aides. pic.twitter.com/Gka6uUMWyO
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) September 28, 2022
The late congresswoman’s brother, Keith Walorski, responded to Biden’s gaffes and said that he “feels sorry for” the President and said “it’s par for the course.”
“He made a phone call after my sister was killed and he was very sincere in his relaying the grief process because he’s been through that grief process, he knows all about it,” Keith Walorski told The New York Post.
“All I’m saying right now about the president is bless his heart for trying. Yeah, it was a big mess-up today. Inexcusable? No. Unforgivable? No. I’m not gonna hold it against him. I just feel sorry for him,” he continued.
At the same time, Biden’s White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre put out a similar, if not the worse, word salad line than her boss when asked about Biden’s gaffe from earlier this morning.
ABC News White House reporter Cecilia Vega asked Jean-Pierre to comment on the President’s gaffe from earlier in the morning during her Wednesday press briefing.
“The president was, as you all know, you guys were watching today’s event — a very important event on food insecurity,” Jean-Pierre started. “The president was naming congressional champions on this issue and was acknowledging her incredible work. He had already planned to welcome the congresswoman’s family to the White House on Friday. There will be a bill-signing in her honor this coming Friday, so of course she was on his mind. She was on top of mind for the president. He very much looks forward to discussing her remarkable legacy of public service with them when he sees her family this coming Friday,” she said scrambling her way through an excuse.
“I just explained, [Walorski] was on top of mind. You know, what we were able to witness today and what the president was able to lift up at this conference, at this event, was how her focus on wanting to deal with combat[ing] food insecurity in America, and this is something that he was lifting up and honoring. And again, he knows that he is going to see her family this coming Friday, there’s a bill-signing that’s going to happen in renaming a VA clinic in Vienna after the late congresswoman, he knows that he is going to see her family and she was on top of mind,” she added and awkwardly moved on to ask for a new question.
Karine Jean-Pierre fails miserably at gaslighting Americans after Biden calls Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, who just died in a tragic car crash, on stage:
“She was on top of his mind.”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 28, 2022
What do you make of Joe Biden’s gaffe from earlier this morning and Karine Jean-Pierre’s response to the same? Share your thoughts in our Facebook comments!