{"id":24035,"date":"2024-02-22T03:56:13","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T09:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=24035"},"modified":"2024-02-22T03:56:19","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T09:56:19","slug":"tensions-between-dueling-press-secretaries-threaten-to-undercut-bidens-election-year-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=24035","title":{"rendered":"Tensions between dueling press secretaries threaten to undercut Biden\u2019s election-year message"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Tensions between the White House<\/a>\u2019s dueling spokespeople have muddied the messaging in a tough election year in which the Biden administration<\/a> has struggled to answer tough questions such as foreign policy and the president\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an unusual dynamic, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby<\/a> has increasingly elbowed out press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre<\/a> at the daily briefings. Ms. Jean-Pierre<\/a>, who technically outranks Mr. Kirby<\/a>, has been ceding more time to him both in the briefing room and on the Sunday morning talk shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack on Israel, Mr. Kirby<\/a> has become the face of the Biden administration<\/a> appearing in the briefing room daily to answer reporters\u2019 questions about the Middle East and other national security matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Kirby<\/a> has appeared at most press briefings with Ms. Jean-Pierre<\/a> since the war\u2019s outbreak. Mr. Kirby<\/a>, who used to travel with Mr. Biden<\/a> only on international trips, recently began traveling on domestic flights so he can brief reporters when they are not in Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two spokespeople are reportedly at odds about their roles with Ms. Jean-Pierre<\/a> fuming that she\u2019s outshone by Mr. Kirby<\/a>, a Biden<\/a> favorite. Mr. Kirby<\/a> is said to be frustrated that she chooses which reporters can ask him questions in the briefing room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions about which one is actually the press secretary and uneasiness between the two come at a critical time for the administration<\/a>. Mr. Biden<\/a> is in the midst of a bitter election for a second term, dogged by questions about his age and competence. He\u2019s struggled to find his footing on Israel, and polls show Mr. Biden<\/a>\u2019s approval ratings and support among his base shrinking and a hostile Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the first Black and first openly gay White House<\/a> press secretary, Ms. Jean-Pierre<\/a> was seen as breaking down several barriers. And the administration<\/a> touted her as an example of its commitment to equity and diversity. While there has been persistent criticism of her performance, replacing her with a White man like Mr. Kirby<\/a> would have proven tricky during an election year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washingtontimes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tensions between the White House\u2019s dueling spokespeople have muddied the messaging in a tough election year in which the Biden administration has struggled to answer tough questions such as foreign policy and the president\u2019s memory. In an unusual dynamic, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has increasingly elbowed out press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at the daily briefings. Ms. Jean-Pierre, who technically […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":24036,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1154],"tags":[1169,1613,9533,6862],"class_list":["post-24035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-biden","tag-election","tag-information","tag-press-secretary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24035"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24035\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24037,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24035\/revisions\/24037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}