The provided text describes an exchange involving White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, an AT&T operator, and a question from Tommy Christopher of Mediaite during a virtual White House press briefing. Jean-Pierre responds to Christopher’s question about former President Donald Trump’s comments on January 6 while campaigning in Iowa.
In her response, Jean-Pierre expresses caution in speaking about candidate Trump, particularly in the context of the upcoming 2024 election. She discusses the dangerous nature of the January 6 events, emphasizing that the President has been clear in standing against conspiracy theories. Jean-Pierre highlights the importance of remembering the officers who died during the Capitol attack and asserts that the President is committed to defending democracy.
Regarding Trump’s comments on hostages, Jean-Pierre is careful not to comment on any Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation or legal process. She finds it offensive to compare individuals convicted of assaulting police and attempting to overthrow the government to innocent Americans or individuals abducted by others.
Overall, Jean-Pierre’s response addresses Trump’s statements on January 6, emphasizing the seriousness of the events and condemning comparisons that she deems offensive and grotesque.
OPERATOR: All right. Moving on to our next question in queue. Tommy Christopher with Meditate [Mediaite], please go ahead.
TOMMY CHRISTOPHER: Yeah. Hey, Karine. It’s Tommy. How you doing?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hey, Tommy. Good to hear your voice. How are you?
TOMMY CHRISTOPHER: Good, good. By the way, I know you know this, but it’s “Mediaite.” We get that a lot, though — “Meditate.” So —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Inaudible.)
TOMMY CHRISTOPHER: — good to talk to you, and good to be staying warm too. So, I — I was wondering if you could tell me what you make of — of how much former President Trump leaned into this lie that January 6th was justified while he was campaigning in Iowa and, like, demanding the release of the, quote, unquote, “hostages”…
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. Look, I want to be — always want to be very, very careful on speaking about candidate Trump, especially in the — the upcoming 2024 election.
What I’ll say more broadly about the January 6th comments — look, you know, it — you know, it’s — it’s basically what the President said in Valley Forge. Right? The President said this over and over again about January 6th and how dangerous it was — right? — and how — how we had to — we had to watch, you know, an insurrec- — an insurrection, essentially — 2,000 angry mob — because they believed what the former President said and thought that they can turn over an election. This is what they were doing. That’s what they were doing at the Capitol on that day.
And so, I’ve been — I said this a couple of times. You know, I’ve said that the President has been very clear: He’s going to stand against these types of conspiracy theories.
Let’s not forget, officers died. Right? Police officers died on that — because of the injuries that they sustained on that day. They were attacked on that day by these — by these — by these folks who — who were trying to take over the Capitol.
And so, we have to be very clear about what happened on that day. We cannot forget about what happened on that day. And the President said this: Our democracy — we have to continue our democracy.
And I’ll just repeat a little bit of what he said in his remarks — right? — there is a choice to be made. There is a choice that we have to make — right? — in — in our country. We have to make a choice, and that choice should be standing — standing up for our democracy, which is what the President is going to continue — continue to do.
As far as this comment on hostages, you know, want to — want to be really careful there as well — as well. Don’t want to comment on — on any DOJ investigation or legal process.
But as you’ve — you’ve seen American veterans note, it’s — it’s grotesque and offensive. It is offensive to c- — to compare those convicted of assaulting cops and attempting to overthrow the American government that veterans have died — have died defending to — for — innocent Americans — for — to — you know, innocent Americans that — in Israel — Israelis and people of other nationalities who were abducted. Right? They were abducted by Hamas on October 7th.
And so, it is — you know, I’ll just keep it there. It is — it is something that — again, I want to be mindful to speaking to, but that is — it is incredibly grotesque and offensive.
