Although he had been again for just a few weeks because the February 1 beginning of his daughter with spouse and Fox Enterprise correspondent Hillary Vaughn, Wednesday marked Fox Information White Home correspondent Peter Doocy’s first White Home briefing since January 27. Not surprisingly, he was nonetheless ready as he grilled the ever-inept Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on whether or not President Biden is “afraid of China.”

Doocy began with that very query: “Why is President Biden afraid of China?” Jean-Pierre insisted that he’s not and her proof was comical as she invoked Biden’s go to to Ukraine.

“Look, this isn’t a President who’s afraid of something. It was a historic journey that a lot of you mentioned was courageous, so clearly, this can be a president that is not afraid to go to a struggle zone,” she mentioned, arguing that Doocy’s query was bunk as a result of…journalists liked Biden in Ukraine?

Doocy countered that, together with China being allowed to fly “spycraft over the U.S.” and nothing occurred to them, Biden hasn’t proven a willingness to punish them once they “might have created one thing that has killed extra 1.1 million individuals on this nation”.

Jean-Pierre mentioned a complete lot of nothing as, on the balloon, Biden “did take that down…collected data from it…protected on nationwide safety data on the bottom, and “protected the American individuals.”

And on COVID origins, Biden has maintained “we have to…resolve” what occurred.

Doocy then dropped the hammer

[W]ith his marketing campaign, it was all about shutting down the virus and the way exhausting it’s for households with an empty chair on the kitchen desk due to COVID. If we now know, in keeping with the FBI director, who was almost definitely chargeable for all these empty chairs in any respect these kitchen tables, why not do extra to attempt to maintain them accountable?

Jean-Pierre began to spin an internet about “a complete plan” to deal with the virus’s unfold, so Doocy interjected that “that’s responding to COVID, however” not “the place did COVID come from.”

She snapped again: “Peter, you possibly can’t inform me — initially, you possibly can’t inform me find out how to reply the query. I’ll reply it for you, proper? So, simply give me a second.”

A meandering essay later about Biden’s “management” making certain “the economic system is rising once more” and “tak[ing] on COVID” and Biden displaying management by having “the intelligence neighborhood” focus on amongst themselves, she moved on.

NBC’s Peter Alexander stepped into the void by asking if the White Home disagrees with Congressman Mike Gallagher’s (R-WI) perception that the China-U.S. relationship isn’t a “competitors” however “and existential battle.”

Jean-Pierre disagreed as a result of “beneath this President, we’re extra ready to out-compete China, shield our safety, and advance a free and open Indo-Pacific than ever earlier than.”

Rewinding to the beginning of the briefing and China was nonetheless a spotlight, besides it involved an upcoming federal ban of TikTok on authorities electronics. Together with the AP’s Aamer Madhani questioning whether or not TikTok is “secure for” youngsters, CBS’s Weijia Jiang pressed on whether or not Biden will go additional. 

To each, Jean-Pierre copped to TikTok having severe “considerations” and “current[s] nationwide safety dangers,” one thing Jean-Pierre and predecessor Jen Psaki keep away from saying for years (click on “broaden”):

MADHANI: TikTok isn’t secure for presidency employees’ units. Does the President imagine it is secure for People’ kids’s smartphones?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, I’m glad that you simply requested about that as a result of, look, we now have been clear about our considerations about TikTok, apps like TikTok and positively our considerations with nations, together with China, have — as they search to leverage digital applied sciences and People’ information in methods that may current hurt and — and threat to our nationwide safety, clearly.

(….)

JIANG: [D]oes the President imagine that TikTok is a risk to nationwide safety?

JEAN-PIERRE: Nicely, we now have considerations. We’ve got considerations concerning the app and that is why we now have known as on Congress to behave and — together with and I discussed earlier, simply moments in the past, together with what China, how China is attempting to gather the privateness of People in a approach that it will have — it — can current nationwide safety dangers, so sure, we now have considerations about that and, and look, we will proceed to, once more, to name on Congress. I simply laid out the President’s unity agenda and what he is seeking to do and the actions that he needs to take from the chief department of his authority. And so we will proceed to name that out.

JIANG: Does that — do the actions embrace a ban on all units within the U.S.?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, what I — would I might say is that this: the White Home doesn’t use TikTok and — however we do imagine — we do imagine that — that — you already know, Congress took motion and so, due to this fact — clearly, we’re — we’re — they took motion and put this into legislation and clearly, we’re taking — taking these steps because it — because it pertains to the federal authorities. Exterior of that, we all know that CFIUS has an ongoing investigation or — ongoing — this — this case, so I am not going to transcend what CFIUS is doing.

JIANG: And I suppose what I am attempting to know is, you already know, has the President not issued a federal ban on TikTok on all units as a result of he doesn’t suppose it is a risk to nationwide safety or as a result of he doesn’t have a authorized mechanism to take action?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, I am not going to get into the specifics on what he has legally to take action or to not accomplish that. What I am saying — and we have been very clear that TikTok, you already know, poses an issue and a problem and so, we now have considerations about that because it pertains to People information, gathering People’ information and the potential nationwide safety threat. And we have been very, very clear on that. Once more, CIFUS has an ongoing course of that they are going — they’re working by, so I’ll let that — that talk for itself what they give you.

Previous to Doocy, Fox Enterprise’s Edward Lawrence had a easy query about “why did he wait so lengthy” since “29 states have already finished it.” Jean-Pierre refused to reply, insisting there’s been a “course of” underway.

On the tail finish of the briefing, Politico’s Lauren Egan known as out the White Home’s TikTok hypocrisy seeing as how they’ve “had TikTok influencers within the constructing earlier than” and “briefed them” on points they need promoted on the platform regardless of these considerations.

Jean-Pierre expressed zero remorse as a result of whereas the White Home doesn’t use it, it’s additionally value “assembly the American individuals the place they’re”.

To see the related transcript from March 1’s briefing, click on right here.