I don’t know about you, but I find Karine Jean-Pierre quite refreshing. Unlike other White House press secretaries like Kayleigh McEnany and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Jean-Pierre shoots straight from the hip. And she doesn’t necessarily care if anyone likes it. McEnany will tell you she never lied, but Vice.com knows that itself is an untruth. She’s told some doozies. The same can be said for Huckabee Sanders.
But that’s not how KJP rolls. Fox News has feebly tried to say she’s lied about purported “deepfake” videos, by quoting notoriously right-wing nutters like Ari Hoffman, but if you Google “Karine Jean-Pierre lies,” well, there ain’t much on there.
And for Jean-Pierre, Friday was one of those days when a row was brewing, according to Mediaite. She had fielded a question from Newsmax’s James Rosen, who was hyper-focused on the hoo-ha about Haitian immigrants in Springfield eating Fido.
As pretty much everyone knows by now, former President Donald Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance took a deep dive into some hairy-scary far-right social media accounts. They started spreading the ridiculous rumor that Haitian migrants are catching pets and eating them. Trump even went so far as to mention this during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Rosen is loony enough to start out with this:
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“In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats. They’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame.”
This nonsense has lead to schools in Springfield closing on Thursday and Friday because city officials received bomb threats via email that “used hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians in [the] community.”
So it’s understandable that Jean-Pierre is angry. She is also from the Caribbean (Fort de France, Martinique) and she’s tired of hearing this. She knows this language is weaponized and she’s not having it.
“Political leaders should not be attacking vulnerable communities,” Jean-Pierre fired back. “That’s not who we should be. And if they’re gonna fall for conspiracy theories online, maybe they shouldn’t be our leaders.”
She asserted this rhetoric is “dangerous” and added, “It puts people’s lives at risk.”
But Rosen was like a dog with a bone and wasn’t about to let this go, so he jumped in with: “Are there any invulnerable communities?”
“It’s not funny,” Jean-Pierre responded.
There was a flurry of cross-talk, and then Jean-Pierre said “Wait a minute hold on.”
Then Rosen set his mode to “interrupt.” Which he did repeatedly. But then KJP managed to get a word in edgeways and said “I’m answering! Let me answer.”
And so she did.
“Not everybody wants to hear the sound of your voice, Sir. Give me a second and I will tell you my answer. It’s not funny.”
Boom!
Then she called on another reporter.
@Acyn, the senior digital editor for MeidasTouch.com couldn’t resist posting the clip on X (formerly Twitter).
KJP: It’s not funny
Reporter: I’m just asking a question
KJP: Let me answer. Not everyone wants to hear the sound of your voice sir. pic.twitter.com/l9Ql5iNFKf
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 13, 2024
Jean-Pierre is clearly done with this issue. And we all should be. It’s ridiculous that the Trump campaign is running on “Those terrible brown people are eating cats.” All this really means is his campaign is running out of gas. Fortunately.
@Acyn also provided the full clip.
Full Clip: pic.twitter.com/bSlRAWfbli
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 13, 2024
And yes, social media users had things to say.
@KellyScaletta observed:
“Children are being sent home from school because of bomb threats, and this guy is laughing?”
Children are being sent home from school because of bomb threats, and this guy is laughing?
— Machine Pun Kelly 🇺🇦 (@KellyScaletta) September 13, 2024
@NeverFatDonny nailed it quite well.
“Good job by KJP. And good point that all vulnerable communities (33% voters are not white) should coalesce around this attack against Haitians and Venezuelans. Also Trump and Vance didn’t “fall” for these conspiracy theories. They know exactly what they’re doing.”
Good job by KJP.
And good point that all vulnerable communities (33% voters are not white) should coalesce around this attack against Haitians and Venezuelans.
Also Trump and Vance didn’t “fall” for these conspiracy theories. They know exactly what they’re doing.
— Bill (@NeverFatDonny) September 13, 2024
@board_rant wondered “Will he be laughing when a Haitian is lynched? Serious question.”
Will he be laughing when a Haitian is lynched?
Serious question.— Slade Williams (@board_rant) September 13, 2024
Because that’s what racist dog-whistles like “they’re eating our pets” lead to. Haitian people living in the U.S. aren’t any more likely to eat pets than anyone else. But this rhetoric leads to innocent people being hurt.
I’m sure Trump is aware of this but doesn’t care as long as he’s got people to pay attention.
I have lived in the Caribbean and I’ve never seen any dog or cat eating here. Really. It rarely happens. Period.
Now I’m going to sit down and have my Rondon (Run Down) and platanos fritos. Crikey, people.
Featured image via screengrab.
