The single White House press conference of the week was Tuesday (June 1st, 2021), ahead of President Biden’s travel to Europe to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Most of the questions revolved around the White House’s response to the deadly strike in Rafa and its stance on Israel. However, only CBS’s Ed O’Keefe and Fox’s Peter Doocy raised the upcoming trial of Hunter Biden, who was being investigated for his involvement in purchasing an illegal gun.
O’Keefe asked Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre if the President would be following the trial of his son, which was set to begin the following Monday. Jean-Pierre cautiously replied that she had nothing specific to share about that but reaffirmed the President’s love and support for his son. When O’Keefe asked whether Biden would try to attend the trial in person, Jean-Pierre dodged the question by mentioning the President’s upcoming visit to France.
Doocy then pressed on with his inquiry, asking why the President had a private meeting with a witness who is set to testify against Hunter Biden. Jean-Pierre was quick to defend the visit, stating that it was to mourn the ninth anniversary of the death of Biden’s son Beau and that Hallie Biden, Hunter’s former romantic fling and Beau’s widow, was family and deserved respect in this difficult time.
She dismissed the idea that the President would discuss the trial with her, and when Doocy asked about Hunter’s ex-girlfriend Lunden Roberts releasing a book about her relationship with him and their daughter, Jean-Pierre refused to comment.
Doocy began the press conference with a blunt question, asking Jean-Pierre if the White House was in “full-blown freak out mode,” referring to a Politico article about Biden’s falling poll numbers causing a Democrat Party panic. On the other end of the spectrum, theGrio’s Gerren Keith Gaynor and Bloomberg Government’s Courtney Rozen questioned about Vice President Kamala Harris’s travels to battleground states and the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on racial gerrymandering.
Gaynor referred to a Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll that showed an increase in Americans trusting Harris to fulfill the duties of the presidency, and he asked about the effectiveness of her economic opportunity tour in these states. Rozen inquired about the President’s faith in the Supreme Court, with recent controversial rulings causing some Democrats to call for its reform, such as increasing the number of members or implementing term limits.
During the press conference, Fox News Radio’s Jared Halpern also questioned national security spokesman John Kirby about the costly yet unsuccessful pier in Gaza constructed by the U.S. military. Halpern wanted to know if the White House had any comment on the New York Times report that two different flags associated with the January 6th attack on the Capitol were flown outside Justice Alito’s homes. This led him to ask whether the President believes Justice Alito should recuse himself from any cases related to the attack or take any ethical actions regarding this reporting.
.@FoxNewsRadio‘s @JaredHalpern: “Can you say whether or not — uh — in the — uh — the setbacks of the — the temporary pier, is the US gonna increase airdrops for aid? Is there a way — a mechanism to kind of make up for — for what’s not getting in the Gaza because of the pier being… pic.twitter.com/96W1tQEURb
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 28, 2024
The press conference was mainly focused on foreign policy and Israel, but O’Keefe and Doocy were the only reporters who brought up the Hunter Biden trial. Jean-Pierre evaded their questions, citing the President’s upcoming trip to France and his visit to Hallie Biden as reasons for not discussing the matter.
However, she refused to comment on whether the President had knowledge of Hunter’s ex-girlfriend releasing a book, which could potentially further complicate the trial.