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A reporter confronted Biden’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about her tweets in 2016 and 2020 claiming Republicans stole elections, now that the Democratic administration has referred to Donald Trump and his supporters as “extremists” for questioning the 2020 election results.
During one of the usual meetings between the White House and reporters, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy intervened to ask Jean-Pierre why her tweets questioning the 2016 election are not considered extremist.
DOOCY: "You tweeted in 2016 that Trump stole an election."
KJP: "I knew this was coming."
DOOCY: "If denying election results is extreme now, why wasn't it then?"
KJP: "That comparison that you made is just ridiculous." pic.twitter.com/EJyoykV1Ta
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 6, 2022
When Doocy initiated his question by mentioning Jean-Pierre’s tweets, the Press Secretary immediately responded, smiling, “Oh, I knew this was coming. I was waiting, Peter, when you were going to ask me that question.” Doocy replied, “well, then here we go.”
“You tweeted that Trump stole an election, you tweeted that Brian Kemp stole an election. If denying election results is extreme now, why wasn’t it then?” Doocy asked right away.
Visibly upset by the question, Jean-Pierre said Doocy’s comparison of her tweets and Trump’s claims was “just ridiculous” and that she was referring to “what was happening with voting rights and what was in danger with voting rights.”
Jean-Pierre and Dems questioned previous elections
However, the evidence doesn’t lie. The tweet in which Jean-Pierre claimed the election was stolen shortly after Hillary Clinton lost the race for the White House to former President Donald Trump is still on her personal account.
“Stolen emails, stolen drone, stolen election… welcome to the world of unpresidented Trump,” the now official White House spokeswoman tweeted at the time.
Stolen emails, stolen drone, stolen election …..welcome to the world of #unpresidented Trump https://t.co/NI7vqPV6cu
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) December 18, 2016
And her questioning continued for years. In April 2020, Jean-Pierre claimed that Brian Kemp stole the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election. The latter finished ahead of Democrat Stacey Abrams by just over 55,000 votes in that state’s closest election since 1966.
“Reminder: Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from Georgians and Stacey Abrams,” Jean-Pierre tweeted.
Reminder: Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from Georgians and Stacey Abrams.https://t.co/ZIKGTd6U1v
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) April 2, 2020
In a speech that has been widely rejected, even by the Democratic media, President Biden said in a gloomy setting that Donald Trump and his followers, whom he referred to as “MAGA Republicans,” are extremists, do not respect the Constitution or the will of the people, precisely for questioning the 2020 election results.
During the four years of Trump’s administration, former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton insisted that the Republican had “stolen” the elections. She even went so far as to say that Trump was an “illegitimate president.”
Former President Jimmy Carter also questioned those results. He claimed that Donald Trump had lost the election, but was put into the presidency by interference from the Russian government.
Doocy’s question is a legitimate one: if leading Democratic Party figures, former presidents and former Secretaries of State insisted for years that Trump had stolen an election, why are Republicans extremists in questioning the 2020 results?
Tomás Lugo, journalist and writer. Born in Venezuela and graduated in Social Communication. Has written for international media outlets. Currently living in Colombia // Tomás Lugo, periodista y articulista. Nacido en Venezuela y graduado en Comunicación Social. Ha escrito para medios internacionales. Actualmente reside en Colombia.