White House communications director Kate BedingfieldTook her turn Tuesday at the Briefing Room podium as the fifth person to speak to reporters and, predictably, the issue of Hunter Biden’s life of corruption didn’t come up over the 80 questions from reporters despite her own record dismissing the infamous laptop as Russian disinformation.
Speaking to The Wall Street JournalBedingfield stated that giving oxygen to the body was essential before the 2020 Presidential Debate. New York Post’s reporting about his laptop and foreign business dealings would be “amplifying Russian misinformation.” She began the campaign earlier. Call itHunter Biden is the main focus “an entirely partisan smear.” We knew it all (and have liberal outlets). We wouldCheck out the confirmation Many years later), it wasn’t.
Instead, we had some solid questions about President Joe Biden’s statements over the past week that drew walkbacks and White House ethics, but there were a few that came from the left.
CBS’s Ed O’Keefe was in the latter camp, asking Bedingfield why up to 100,000 Ukrainians are being allowed into the U.S. despite the existence of the COVID-19-related immigration measure Title 42 (which is expected to expire at week’s end).
After Bedingfield pointed out the obvious that there’s “an extreme crisis in Ukraine” with an “incredible volume of displacement” of people so those bordering Ukraine wouldn’t “shoulder the burden” alone.
Things heated up when O’Keefe wondered why the same blanket residency isn’t given to illegal immigrants coming form Latin America even though, put simply, the two groups have stark differences (click “expand”):
O’KEEFE: Understood. O’KEEFE: Understand.
BEDINGFIELD: I think that’s a little bit putting words in my mouth. My point was only that we’re —
O’KEEFE: That’s how it would be interpreted though —
BEDINGFIELD: — that that’s —
O’KEEFE: — by immigration advocates and others on this side of the world.
BEDINGFIELD: That’s a little bit putting words in my mouth. All I’m saying is that we have put forward a process to allow a hundred thou — to bring 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the country, given the incredible duress and the crisis that they’re facing in their homeland.
Staying on that topic, the ever vocal Simon Ateba of Today News Africa later interjected to wonder why the U.S. won’t let in droves of Ethiopians as “tens of thousands…have been killed, millions have been displaced” in that country from strife like they’re offering for “Europeans.”
He inquired also about Chris Rock-Will Smith’s incident and hoped that the White House would respond. “it’s the biggest story” with “the level of violence…unleashed.”
On both, Bedingfield declined to comment, arguing on the former that the administration’s current focus on helping the Ukrainians amid this hot war.
Then, there’s the reassurance of a solid question about whether Biden’s declaration that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin deserves to be removed went against the “the standard that he set himself” that a president’s words matter, NBC’s Mike Memoli fretted: “[I]Is he disappointed or regretful that the words at the end of his speech were so overshadowed by a bigger message which he clearly thought about a lot?[?]”
In contrast to all of that, Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich pressed on another Biden flub as well as giving free COVID vaccines to illegal immigrants and Real Clear Politics’s Philip Wegmann had questions about a special, one-week job for longtime lefty Anita Dunn and then one of the White House’s Ukraine walkbacks (click “expand”):
HEINRICH – There is a report that the government will require COVID vaccinations for undocumented migrants crossing the southwest border. This is just in time as Title 42 ends and the FDA approves the fourth shot. Your comments highlighted the impact of insufficient COVID funding on treatment payments and shipping of vaccines to the states. Why then would undocumented migrants get free vaccines, but Americans not?
(….)
HEINRICH : Could you explain, however: The New York Times The story described it as something happening in some areas of the southwest border. Is this some — this requirement for a vaccine. Is — is that accurate? What is the likelihood of that happening? Because — and the reason I ask is you’re talking about future supply and this is a future effort. These two elements are not in conflict.
(….)
HEINRICH : Could you confirm Title 42 is ending?
BEDINGFIELD: I have no announcement that I can make on Title — Title 42.
HEINRICH: And then, on Ukraine: Yesterday, did the President accidentally reveal a previously unknown effort for the U.S. to be training Ukrainian forces in Poland during his answer in the press conference?
(….)
WEGMANN: The Washington PostAccording to reports, Anita Dunn spent last month on a one-week assignment at the White House. I’m wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about, you know, what was so important for her to be brought in on a one-week assignment like that? Do any former or current staffers of the Biden administration enjoy this type of drop-in? Finally, can it be true that Dunn did not violate any ethics rules that restrict ex-White House officials from lobbying for one year following their departure?
(….)
WEGMANN – And another. Forty-five minutes after the President’s remarks wrapped in Warsaw on Saturday, that was when a statement landed in everyone’s inboxes from an unnamed White House official saying that, no, the administration did not, in fact, change its policy with regards to Russia. I’m wondering if you can tell us anything about what happened in the interim — in that 45 minutes. Was the President able to conclude there was more clarification needed? Or did White House advisors come to him and say, “Perhaps you should revisit your recent remarks?” Why was that statement issued?
To see the relevant transcript from March 29’s briefing, click here.