Sounds like the White House is doing a bang-up job of explaining and rationalizing Joe Biden’s unlawful move to cancel student debt for millions of Americans at the expense of millions more Americans:
WH cannot say how much the student loan forgiveness plan will cost and cannot say how it will be paid for but argues the value is worth the costs
— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) August 25, 2022
But perhaps nobody’s having a bigger banner day than White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who’s been tasked with answering the White House press corps’ questions on the matter. Seriously, guys. Karine is doing just greeeeeat:
Jean-Pierre on canceling student debt:
"This is historical, what we're doing. It has never been done before. When you look at the system, the system is broken. And we're trying to reform it so that we can help people who really need it." pic.twitter.com/jVVgEW1ngg
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 25, 2022
This is historical, people. The Biden administration is making history. Might make your savings history in the process, but when you’re making history, sometimes you have to make sacrifices, too.
Of course, Karine can’t (or won’t) actually tell us how much it’s going to cost us to make history … but she did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night:
Reporter: "Do you all believe this student loan program is fully paid for?"
Jean-Pierre: "We do believe it will be fully paid because of the work this president has done with the economy." pic.twitter.com/X89yhf0HhG
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 25, 2022
Oh, OK. Makes sense. At least if you’re on mushrooms or something.
https://t.co/QiDjFPb7bb pic.twitter.com/81Qmn12Q77
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) August 25, 2022
“Sometimes I'll start a sentence and I don't even know where it's going. I just hope I find it along the way.” -White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre. https://t.co/SXJMduHNIF
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) August 25, 2022
Definitely strong Michael Scott energy there. Well, that’s not entirely fair. Michael Scott can at least be charming sometimes.
Let’s listen some more:
Jean-Pierre says that $500 billion in new spending on student debt will be fully paid for because the Biden admin is also lifting the pause on student loan payments and bring "$50 billion per year back into the treasury." pic.twitter.com/5hFnlDwYG3
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 25, 2022
This would have been a good time for Karine to break out the pen and paper and show us her work. That’s not what she did, of course.
She just flailed even more:
Reporter 1: "You could say 'this is how much it's going to cost if everyone who is eligible applies.'"
KJP: "We just don't want to get ahead of ourselves."
Reporter 2: "If you don't know how much it's going to cost, how can you guarantee that it's going to be paid for?" pic.twitter.com/MFtIlFXvYl
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 25, 2022
Reporter: "If you don't know how much [student debt cancelation] is going to cost how can you guarantee it's going to be paid for?"
Jean-Pierre: "We'll actually know more once people take us up on it and get a sense of if they will." pic.twitter.com/rn4VPQK3ZJ
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 25, 2022
What? That’s not how this stuff is supposed to work.
Karine Jean-Pierre doesn’t seem to really understand how things are supposed to work.
A reporter asks why the admin can use Covid as a legal basis for student debt cancelation.
Jean-Pierre says "some people" are "still going to have a little bit of a hard time" because "they're just in a different bracket" pic.twitter.com/YJY3j98vWI
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) August 25, 2022
JACQUI TIME: "The Heroes Act hinges on student debt…being tied to the pandemic & that being a national emergency, but the administration argued in court that [it's] over…So, how is…COVID a national emergency when it comes to student debt?"
KJP: "It's a very good question" pic.twitter.com/JmwUD97jjc
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 25, 2022
Narrator: Karine Jean-Pierre was not, in fact, glad that Jacqui Heinrich asked that question. Hard to blame her, honestly. Would you want to have to rationalize the Biden administration’s shenanigans and chronic intellectual dishonesty and inconsistency? Hell no.
But Jean-Pierre also signed on for this knowing that she was going to have to explain and defend some pretty insane and awful stuff, so also deserves to get called out for her own role in the sideshow.
One of those wild moments where KJP gives an answer that doesn't seem remotely connected to the question.
It's like she spins a talking points wheel and just goes with whatever it lands on, regardless of the question she was asked. https://t.co/ml4rflxYxP
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) August 25, 2022
That’s actually probably not too far off from how she approaches non-softball questions.
KJP: Some folks are…going to have a little bit harder time [w/payments]…though…the economy has been turned back on b/c of the work [Biden] has done.@JacquiHeinrich: That's another thing…[He]…says we're not in a recession…Why are those…conditions to forgive…debt? pic.twitter.com/Bf6mJRiuE7
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 25, 2022
If you look really, really closely, you can just make out the early signs of Karine Jean-Pierre slowly transforming into a corncob.
.@JacquiHeinrich: "The Washington Post editorial board says that…it takes money from the broader tax base…to subsidize…debt of people w/valuable degrees…There are critics who are saying…the real natl. emergency is Democrats in the midterm elections."
KJP: "I disagree." pic.twitter.com/qpEgECrt8Z
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) August 25, 2022
Liberal MSM lapdogs: “Karine Jean-Pierre is going to be a fantastic White House press secretary!”
Us and other people with eyes and ears: “We disagree.”
Looks like we were right about her the whole time. Shocker, we know.
Anyway, it’s needless to say at this point that Karine Jean-Pierre isn’t cut out for this job. She makes Jen Psaki look poised and eloquent. If the Biden administration wants to sell the public on this bailout, they’re gonna need a better spokesperson than Karine Jean-Pierre.
And if they want to sell the courts on this issue, they’re gonna need the actual devil’s advocate. And even then, they’ll fail.
Not a good question, so much as a devastating question that cannot be answered, and that will, inter alia, prove fatal in court if the standing rules allow the issue to get that far. https://t.co/TLxzp9ct8A
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) August 25, 2022
***
Related:
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member