White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday remembered to blame President Joe Biden’s panic-inducing debate performance on jet lag, apologizing for failing to mention it previously.
“You did get numerous questions yesterday about the President’s debate performance. You didn’t mention travel, the jet lag, the foreign trip. So I think you can understand why it was a little bit puzzling to hear the president mentioning that as his explanation for the first time last night,” a reporter told Jean-Pierre, who said she was aware of that excuse as well.
“That is my bad,” Jean-Pierre responded. “That is part of, that is part of — definitely part of the explanation of what had occurred. I did know that. I did know that.”
While she repeatedly said she was aware of the supposed jet lag, she said she was more focused on Biden’s cold.
“And that’s what I kind of leaned into, and talked about, but yes, his schedule did have something to do with it,” she continued. “It was the schedule and the cold and … I was aware of that yesterday,” she added.
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Her explanation comes as Biden made a surprise appearance on a campaign staff call on Wednesday, reportedly assuring fellow Democrats that he is in the race for the long haul, despite his lackluster debate performance which sent many Democrats into a spiral.
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