A North Carolina radio show accused the White House of lying when it claimed the show edited a clip of Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s Tuesday meltdown after the host asked her if President Joe Biden has dementia.
A White House spokesman told the Daily Beast that WBT Charlotte “chose not to air the full interview and instead artificially attached a sound effect that our phones do not make when calls end.” He implied the show was trying to stir up drama, insisting the White House only promised a certain amount of time to the show and that Jean-Pierre’s abrupt departure was so she could make the next in her “multiple back-to-back interviews.”
Host Mark Garrison disputed that claim. “The White House assertion that we added a sound effect is nonsense. When she hung up, the phone noise was purely from their end,” Garrison told the Daily Caller.
WBT provided what it claims is the raw footage of the call, in which a busy signal can clearly be heard after Jean-Pierre’s departure.
The kerfuffle began during Tuesday’s appearance when Jean-Pierre erupted in indignation after Garrison asked about Biden’s mental state.
“When I told a number of people that I was talking to you today — it was interesting, though — they all said, ‘Would you please just ask her, does the president have dementia?’” Garrison said. “So before I move on from it, does he?”
“That, Mark, I can’t even believe you’re asking me this question,” an incredulous Jean-Pierre stammered. “That is an incredibly offensive question to ask.”
“But you know people ask it,” Garrison insisted.
“Wait, oh, let me, no, no, no, no, no, you, Mark, you, you took, you’re taking us down this rabbit hole.”
LISTEN: KJP hangs up on a Charlotte, North Carolina radio host after being asked if Joe Biden has dementia and about high gas prices and high grocery prices. pic.twitter.com/eu69qAQhVH
— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) March 26, 2024
Jean-Pierre defended her boss while refusing to answer the question definitively. After she answered another question regarding the slow economy and rising prices, she abruptly ended the interview.
“And with that, thank you so much, Mark, have an amazing, amazing day,” she said, and hung up, after which the sound of a busy signal could be heard.
“I don’t understand the fragility of this person,” Garrison’s cohost said as the two marveled over Jean-Pierre’s actions.
Bradley Jaye is a Capitol Hill Correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
