No, Karine Jean-Pierre didn't avoid reporter's question | Fact check

Gabrielle Settles, USA TODAY
·2 min read

The claim: Video shows Karine Jean-Pierre walk away from a reporter’s question

A June 29 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows a video of White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre taking a question from a reporter during a briefing.

“Are you guys here at the White House in full-blown freakout mode?” Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asks.

The video cuts back to Jean-Pierre, who says “Thanks everybody,” closes her binder and appears to walk out of the room without replying.

The Instagram post was shared 20,000 times in six days.

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Our rating: Altered

The video is edited. It omits more than 10 minutes of the briefing, which shows Jean-Pierre responded to Doocy's question and two additional questions from him. She didn't walk out after the freakout mode question.

Jean-Pierre took Doocy’s questions on polling, Hunter Biden

The Instagram clip is from a May 28 White House press briefing, and the original video shows the full exchange between Doocy and Jean-Pierre about President Joe Biden. She asked what Doocy meant by the “freakout” question.

“There’s a Politico story. It sounds like Democrats outside – the quote is, ‘Biden’s stubbornly poor polling, and the stakes of the election are creating the freakout,’” Doocy said.

Jean-Pierre responded, “So, again I’m being mindful. I’m not going to comment on 2024 election. I will say this – the president has never forgotten where he came from, who he is. He understands what the American people are going through as they’re sitting around the kitchen table,” Jean-Pierre said.

She went on to talk about Biden’s economic policies. Doocy then asked Jean-Pierre two questions related to Biden's son, Hunter Biden. Jean-Pierre responded to both questions before moving on to another reporter.

Fact check: Biden saying 'end of quote' in SCOTUS remarks wasn't flub

USA TODAY previously debunked a similar video that was altered to falsely show Jean-Pierre leaving abruptly instead of answering questions from Doocy.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Altered video of abrupt end to White House press briefing | Fact check

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