ut Jean-Pierre isn’t just a victim of bad luck regarding the president for whom she works. This early conclusion comes after watching this press secretary read answers to questions, oftentimes for extended periods of time, verbatim.
The confidence simply is not there, nor is the conviction. Consider this exchange between the new press secretary and Peter Doocy on Monday after the Fox News White House correspondent read the following tweet from Biden on May 16.
“You want to bring down inflation? Let’s make sure the wealthiest corporations pay their fair share,” the president tweeted.
Doocy: “How does raising taxes on corporations lower the cost of gas, the cost of a used car, the cost of food, for everyday Americans?”
What followed was akin to a high school student putting together a series of sentences in order to achieve a mandatory word count on a term paper. Here was the answer verbatim, per the official White House transcript:
Jean-Pierre: “So, look, I think we encourage those who have done very well — right? — especially those who care about climate change, to support a fairer tax — tax code that doesn’t change — that doesn’t charge manufacturers’ workers, cops, builders a higher percentage of their earnings; that the most fortunate people in our nation — and not let the — that stand in the way of reducing energy costs and fighting this existential problem, if you think about that as an example, and to support basic collective bargaining rights as well. Right? That’s also important. But look, it is — you know, by not — if — without having a fairer tax code, which is what I’m talking about, then all — every — like manufacturing workers, cops — you know, it’s not fair for them to have to pay higher taxes than the folks that — who are — who are — who are not paying taxes at all or barely have.”