Karine Jean-Pierre's Comments On Joe Biden's COVID Diagnosis Have Twitter Seeing Red
Yesterday, we learned that President Joe Biden had tested positive for COVID. White House COVID-19 response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha described the vaccinated and twice boosted commander in chief's symptoms as being mild (via CNN). Then, at a press conference Thursday press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was questioned about the genesis of the POTUS' infection. Her response is what has Twitter going off the rails. "I don't think that matters," the new mouthpiece for the president noted (via New York Post).
Jha, who was also on hand for the Q&A with reporters, contended that "we" don't know, before Jean-Pierre added, "Look, I don't think that that matters, right? I think what matters is we prepared for this moment."
The press secretary went on to push back at continued questioning about contact tracing and concluded the conversation by asserting, "Look, we knew this was going to happen." She stressed that the fact that Biden is vaxxed and feeling alright is what the focus should be.
But does Twitter agree?
Twitter questions Karine Jean-Pierre's take on her boss' diagnosis
It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that some people didn't love Karine Jean-Pierre's comments about her boss' COVID diagnosis. Many Twitter users referenced what she said at the press conference on Thursday along with their reactions. "We knew this was going to happen... at some point, everyone is going to get COVID. So why then do we persist with the mask charade?" tweeted one person.
Another individual questioned the part of her comments that seemed to brush off that no one was super curious about where and when Joe Biden contracted COVID. "Really? He was at an event yesterday and shook hands with everyone... doesn't matter???" the person tweeted.
Many other Twitter users pointed out the seeming hypocrisy of how their own COVID diagnoses were handled versus the leader of the free world. "They locked people down for months and masked our kids, now it doesn't matter?" one such person implored.
But the backlash was only getting started.
Twitter compares Joe Biden and Donald Trump's COVID cases
In addition to Twitter's huge virtual eye roll at Karine Jean-Pierre's comments about Joe Biden's positive COVID status, other social media users used the opportunity to bludgeon the administration in general.
One Twitter user opined that the press secretary hadn't done a very good job at the Q&A, saying she "bobbed & weaved all over." They went on to observe, "I almost feel sorry for her... almost." Another detractor tweeted that Jean-Pierre's handling of the presser was on par with "how disastrously Biden has run the country."
But to be fair, not everyone went on the attack after the press secretary took questions about the POTUS' COVID diagnosis, with one supporter noting, "The same ppl demanding Karine Jean-Pierre give them every detail of Biden's last 48hrs were fine w/Trump's team hiding every detail of him having Covid INCLUDING when he tested positive."
Indeed, many Twitter users compared Donald Trump's diagnosis with that of Biden's, with a clip resurfacing of the current president calling out his rival for "reckless" behavior that led to him getting sick.