White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre walked out of the briefing room on Thursday after a strained back-and-forth with Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich.
Heinrich had said to the press secretary, “This administration messaged to millions of Americans that they’re going to wake up day after the election if Trump won and have their rights stripped away, that democracy would crumble. And the president said today, ‘We’re going to be OK.’”
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“So how do you square it?” the reporter asked.
“I can square that,” Jean-Pierre replied.
“The American people made the decision,” she added. “There was an election two nights ago. There was. And it was a free and fair election, and we respect the election process.”
“Americans spoke, and so the job of the president is to make sure we respect that,” she continued. “The job of the president is to make sure that we have a peaceful transfer of power. That is what the American people deserve, and that’s what we’re going to — it’s really, it’s not complicated.”
She pointed out that President Joe Biden had called President-elect Donald Trump to invite him to the White House to help ensure a smooth transition.
“You know why? Because that’s customary,” Jean-Pierre said.
“The president wants to lead by example. It’s not complicated,” she added.
Alex Wong via Getty Images
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Heinrich pushed back, asking her if leading by example is the “message to people who are fearful based on what the messaging was about the stakes?”
“Well, now you’re just twisting everything around and that’s really unfair,” Jean-Pierre fired back.
“I’ve been standing here saying that we respect the decision that the American people made,” she said, arguing that Biden is trying to put the American people first.
“I do not appreciate having my words twisted. … They deserve, they deserve a peaceful transfer of power. And that’s what you’re going to see,” she said, adding “thanks, everybody,” as she left the podium.
Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and numerous others, including many of Trump’s former White House staff, called Trump a threat to democracy because he has proved time and time again that he is one.
Biden nonetheless promised a peaceful transfer of power — a courtesy Trump did not extend to him when the roles were reversed in 2020 — after the American people chose Trump in Tuesday’s election.
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“We accept the choice the country made. I’ve said many times you can’t love your country only when you win. You can’t love your neighbor only when you agree,” Biden said in a Rose Garden speech Thursday.
He reassured the American people, “We’re going to be OK. But we need to stay engaged, we need to keep going. And above all, we need to keep the faith.”