White House press secretary takes heat on Biden back-tracking about his son

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded to sharp questioning on Friday from an Associated Press reporter after she had previously stated multiple times that President Biden would not pardon his son Hunter Biden. 

Biden released a statement on Dec. 1 announcing that he would pardon his son, sparing Hunter from sentencing in two federal cases involving federal tax charges and felony gun charges. The pardon also covers all potential crimes Hunter “committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014 to Dec. 1, 2024.  

“You were asked about the president pardoning his son and you said, ‘It’s a no. It will be a no. It’s a no,'” AP White House correspondent Zeke Miller said, recounting Jean-Pierre’s statements. 

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“I’m wondering if you would like to explain to us, to the American people, really, why the information you provided turned out not to be true,” Miller said. 

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“When you look at the statement, it’s pretty comprehensive,” Jean-Pierre said, referring to Biden’s full statement, adding that the “circumstances have changed.” 

President Biden argued that Hunter was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” by members of Congress in a White House statement. 

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong,” Biden said. 

Miller also reminded Jean-Pierre of promises that she made when she first became White House press secretary. 

“In your first briefing here as press secretary, you committed to speaking ‘in a transparent way, in a truthful way, and in an honest way,'” Miller told Jean-Pierre.