(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stormed out of her daily briefing after being pressed about the Biden-Harris administration’s swift funding for Lebanon while asking Congress to support the SBA’s disaster relief program.
During the heated and viral exchange, Fox News’s Peter Doocy questioned the administration’s decision to bypass Congress for foreign aid but seek support from lawmakers to provide financial relief to Americans.
Jean-Pierre claimed that the federal government had already provided over $200 million in assistance and accused Doocy of spreading “dangerous” disinformation, echoing Democratic talking points when confronted with inconvenient facts.
Doocy countered by reminding her that President Joe Biden had sent a letter to Congress on Friday confirming that the SBA’s disaster loan program had run out of funds. This came just days after Hurricane Helene ravaged many cities in Georgia and North Carolina.
“Your whole premise of the question is misinformation, sir. Yes! Yes! it’s misinformation,” Jean-Pierre claimed, her voice shaky. “I just mentioned to you that we provided more than $200 million to folks who are impacted in the area.”
She continued, “Peter this is nothing new. Congress comes together. They provide money, millions of dollars, for disaster relief. We’re asking them to do the job that they have been doing for some time.”
Unhappy with Jean-Pierre’s vague answer, Doocy retorted, “The president’s letter is not misinformation, would you agree.” To this, Jean-Pierre—once again—claimed that the question’s framing was misinformation.
After the fiery back-and-forth, Jean-Pierre grabbed her binder of talking points and abruptly ended the press briefing, suggesting that Doocy might not want Americans to receive government funding.
Video of the exchange, first captured by the Media Research Center, has garnered over 45 million views across various re-posts, including one by X owner Elon Musk.
After a fiery back-and-forth, Jean-Pierre grabbed her huge binder with talking points and stormed out of the press room, accusing Doocy of perhaps not wanting Americans to receive funding from the government.
In addition to the SBA’s funding issues, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed that FEMA has also run out of money to support Americans through the remainder of the 2024 hurricane season.
