Fox News reporter Peter Doocy stumped White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Friday with a question about reports that the Biden administration is preparing to give illegal aliens who were separated at the border under the prior administration massive payouts.
Jean-Pierre repeatedly refused to answer questions on the matter, claiming that she could not “speak to this from here,” and that Doocy would need to ask the Department of Justice, who Doocy says told him, “no comment.” Jean-Pierre also refused to address whether President Joe Biden had been fully briefed by his administration over what was going on.
Doocy then stumped Jean-Pierre with a bit of a trick question during the following exchange:
DOOCY: Okay, final one, then. There is a long line to get into this country legally. Is there any kind of discussion about giving people who are coming here the right way money?
JEAN-PIERRE: Why would — I — why would we be giving people who are coming here the right way money?
DOOCY: Why are you giving people who came here the wrong way money?
JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, but I don’t understand the question. What is — you’re saying that we should give —
DOOCY: You’re giving illegal immigrants —
JEAN-PIERRE: — we should give people just money who are coming through? I don’t understand the question.
DOOCY: You’re giving people who immigrated here illegally money. You will.
JEAN-PIERRE: Like I said — like I said, that’s the Department of Justice. That’s — you’re going to have to ask them that question.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS REPORTER: So your administration is negotiating cash payments for some illegal immigrants who were separated from family members under the last administration. Why give taxpayer money to people who broke federal law to get here?
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: You like this question, Peter.
DOOCY: It’s an important question. It’s —
JEAN-PIERRE: We talked about — but we talked about this yesterday.
DOOCY: But not to the heart of the point, which is that these people broke the law to come here and they are going to get hundreds of thousands —
JEAN-PIERRE: So —
DOOCY: — of dollars in taxpayer money.
JEAN-PIERRE: A couple of things: I mean, I cannot speak to this from here. This is Department of Justice.
DOOCY: And we asked them, and they said, “No comment.” So we have to ask you.
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, and I’m telling you that this is in litigation. And so, you have to talk to the Department of Justice about this. This is not something that I can speak from here on the particulars or the specifics.
But, you know, I said this to you yesterday, Peter: One of the things that we have to remember, what — why we’re in this place that — where we are today is because we had an administration that had an inhumane, immoral policy that was taking babies away from their families, from their mothers.
That’s the — that was the policy of the last administration. That is why we are here today. And that’s — you asking me this question — that I actually cannot answer because you got to go to Department of Justice to get the particulars.
But just to be clear: This is — that’s why this is happening today.
DOOCY: Okay. So Mitch McConnell and Chuck Grassley have written a letter to the Attorney General. They say that, “Any settlements to illegal aliens because they violated the law are wrong.” Does the president agree with that or disagree with that?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, yesterday, I addressed and I clarified the president’s comments on the thinking on this, because you asked him a question and he answered it directly. But anything about the process, again, anything about the specifics or the particulars, I can’t answer from here, behind this podium. So, you would have to go to the Department of Justice.
DOOCY: Then, to internal White House processes: When the ACLU heard the president dismiss the idea of $450,000 payments the other day, the ACLU came out and they said, he “may not have been fully briefed about the actions of his very own Justice Department.” So, is the president being kept out of the loop about immigration policymaking?
JEAN-PIERRE: Again, Peter, the president was asked — you asked him a question — a direct question, and he was answering it. I cannot say any more than that.
DOOCY: Okay, final one, then. There is a long line to get into this country legally. Is there any kind of discussion about giving people who are coming here the right way money?
JEAN-PIERRE: Why would — I — why would we be giving people who are coming here the right way money?
DOOCY: Why are you giving people who came here the wrong way money?
JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, but I don’t understand the question. What is — you’re saying that we should give —
DOOCY: You’re giving illegal immigrants —
JEAN-PIERRE: — we should give people just money who are coming through? I don’t understand the question.
DOOCY: You’re giving people who immigrated here illegally money. You will.
JEAN-PIERRE: Like I said — like I said, that’s the Department of Justice. That’s — you’re going to have to ask them that question.
DOOCY: Okay. We’ll ask again.
JEAN-PIERRE: Okay.
Story cited here.
