Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre En Route Marietta, GA
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Marietta, Georgia
2:15 P.M. EDT
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hi, all.
Q Hey.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay, I got a — two things at the top.
So, today’s Supreme Court order ensures that women in Idaho can access the emergency medical care they need while this case returns to the lower courts. But our fight is not over. The Biden-Harris administration will continue to defend our long-standing fundamental belief that women have the right to access the emergency medical care they need.
No woman should be denied care or wait until she’s near death or forced to flee her home state just to receive the health care she needs, yet this is exactly what is happening in states across the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
It’s all part of Republican elected officials’ extreme and dangerous agenda to ban abortion nationwide, put women’s health and lives at risk, and threaten doctors with jail time. The stakes should not be higher, and the — I’m sorry, the stakes could not be higher, and the contrast could not be clearer.
President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue to fight for a woman’s right to make deeply personal health care decisions and to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law for all women in every state across the country.
Second, the president has repeatedly said that we must secure our border. That’s why, about three weeks ago, he announced actions to bar migrants who cross our border unlawfully from receiving asylum.
Since then, unlawful crossings between ports of entry have dropped more than 40 percent. We’re still early in implementing the president’s actions, and we understand that migration flows are dynamic. That is why we continue to call on Congress to provide our immigration officials and Border Patrol the resources they need to do their jobs.
Republicans in Congress have proven that they would rather have a political football than actually fix the problem. We will continue calling on congressional Republicans to do their jobs and give border officials the resources only Congress can provide.
With that, Darlene, you want to kick us off?
Q Yes, thank you. To follow up on your topper on the Supreme Court case out of Idaho, given the outcome of that case, is the administration considering suing any other states, you know, like Texas, with similar — that have similar circumstances?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I don’t have anything to announce or to lay out. That’s certainly going to be up to the Department of Justice as it relates to any litigation. They’re — something that they can speak to.
What I can say is our fight is not over. So, we’re going to continue to defend what I said at the top — the administration long view of making sure that a woman has the right to access emergency medical care. That’s — continues to be our — our stance.
And so, we will continue to investigate complaints; take enforcement actions as appropriate; and ensure that doctors, hospitals, patients understand that rights and obligations under — the rights and obligations under EMTALA.
Anything further beyond that, I just don’t have anything to add.
Q What —
Q And one to the president.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q He’s been at Camp David for more than a week. Can you tell us anything about his mindset going into tonight, his mood? Have you seen him since we’ve been airborne?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. So, a couple of things — and I’m going to be really mindful, follow the law — Hatch Act, all of the things. And I’ll say this. Look, the president is president wherever he is.
Obviously, we — we — there was the Dobbs decision. You heard from the president then. You heard from the vice president. You — you heard us lay out — I just star- — stated this at the top about what the — what we have seen at the border and the 40 percent drop, which I think is also important. So, he’s able to do the job wherever he is. There’s the infrastructure to do just that.
And I’ll say this. You know, whenever there’s an opportunity for the president to speak directly to American public — in this instance, it’ll be millions of Americans watching — he takes that opportunity very seriously. And he understands that Americans are going to be watching, wanting to hear from their president, wanting to hear what he’s been able to accomplish this last three and a — three and a half years.
This is something that he does regularly, obviously, and to lay that out — to lay out the contrast on what we’ve been trying to do and what Republicans have been trying to do — extreme Republicans at that. I just talked about the Dobbs decision. I just talked about EMTALA.
All of these things that we’re seeing, as it relates to reproductive freedom and — and contraception, you know, being — being on the line and IVF and what we’re seeing with 27 million women in 21 states that have abortion restrictions, what they’ve had to be going through — it is happening because of what the last administration did, because of the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
So, these are the things that you’re going to continue to hear the president talk about, the contrast, whether it’s the economy, whether it’s expanding health care, giving — making sure we’re giving Americans a little bit of breathing room and not giving tax cuts to billionaires and corporations. That’s not where we are. We want to protect Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security. Republicans want to continue to try to gut that.
So, you’ll — you’ll continue to hear the president lay out what he’s done in three and a half years and, obviously, as we do regularly, give that stark contrast and lay out what’s at stake.
Q Are you — are you happy with the debate rules, the fact that there’s no audience, the mic will be turned off?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That’s something for — for the campaign to speak to. As you know, that was a discussion that they had. And so, I’m going to leave that to them.
Q And — and what’s the president’s feeling about standing toe to toe with his — his main adversary tonight?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I — I’m not going to speak directly to tonight and directly to his main adversary this evening.
But, look, you know this president. He likes to fight. He likes to fight for the American people. He believes on standing up for the American people. You see him do that over and over again.
And so, look, I would — I would refer you to the State of the Union — not just this year but also last year — and how he was able to take — to take extreme Republicans in the room on. I — I’m just going to leave that there.
Q Sticking with the — with the Supreme Court in another decision today. Does the administration have any concerns on the Supreme Court’s decision and the SEC case to curb in-house judges? Just any comment or reaction to that case and if it could potentially limit enforcement on financial rules and regulations.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I’m not going to speak to that. We’ve been always very, very mindful on that. So, I’m j- — I just don’t have anything to add to the — to the Supreme Court ruling.
Q Karine, could you give us few details about what these past few days have looked like for the president at Camp David?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, I don’t have anything more to add to answering Darlene’s question.
Look, the president is the president wherever he is. He, you know — obviously, he continues to do the work of the American people. The last couple of days, we’ve made some important announcement on things, on matters that the majority of Americans care about, whether it’s the Dobbs decision, marking the two-year anniversary. I just talked about immigration, what’s happening at the border, securing the border, and the actions that the president took — the executive actions that the president took not too long ago. We laid that out for all of you yesterday — the 40-percent decrease at the border.
I don’t have anything else to add. I’m sure the campaign will have more specifics on that. But I’m just going to stick to what the president — how the president delivers every day for the American people. That’s — that’s my — that’s my lane. That’s my role. And that’s what I’ll stick to.
Anything else?
Q Is — is — sorry. Is the president concerned that the Kenyan government caved to violence and overturned their new tax laws?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, a couple of things on that. Give me one second. Guys, I can’t see.
Q (Inaudible.)
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Kenya, yeah.
So — so, obviously, we’re deeply concerned about — about what — what is occurring there and obviously condemn the reported violence in all forms. We offer our deepest condolences to the families who have been impacted and continue to urge restraint so that no further Kenyans are put in harm’s way while exercising their constitutional, protected right to peacefully, publicly assemble.
We are encouraged by recent — by President Ruto’s openness to dialogue and will continue to push for calm to prevail.
So, answering that question, I think it’s important to have that open dialogue and wh- — we are — I think we are encouraged by that open dialogue that the president of Kenya is currently having with — with folks on the ground.
Q Does the president have confidence in the effectiveness of the Gaza pier is — that the Pentagon has opened up a Inspector General look into it. Does he — does he think it’s money well spent?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’ll say — I’m not going to speak to the IG investigation. That’s something that I won’t get into.
Look, we have always said one of the things that this president wanted to do is get that increased humanitarian aid into Gaza. We’ve — we’ve been very clear about that. And we’ve said — and you’ve heard Jake Sullivan talk about air, land, and sea. Right? And so, this is part of that effort.
We’re confident in that effort, in making sure that we’re getting those really important goods and aid that the people of — of Gaza, Pal- — innocent Palestinians need into — obviously into Gaza.
So, that’s always going to be our focus. And anything more specifically about the process and how that’s moving forward with the pier, certainly, I would refer you to the — to the Department of Defense.
But again, that is the president’s commitment: to increase
— to increase that aid. And so, that is something that the president — that — that we’ve been incredibly focused on.
And I do want to share some total figures here. Since the beginning of the conflict, President Biden has been leading the effort to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. And it was a result of the president’s effort that assistance was allowed into Gaza after October 7th. Overall, total of nearly 16,000 trucks since April 5th and a daily average of 190 trucks have been going in a day. And that is, again, because of the president’s leadership. And we’re going to do everything that we can to increase that aid.
Q Julian Assange’s lawyer says he deserves a pardon and that President Biden should give him one. Is that under consideration or even discu- — being discussed?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, it’s not.
Q And what is the response to former President Trump’s claims that President Biden may be taking something tonight to boost his performance?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I don’t think that I should dignify that with an answer.
Q Did — did Jake — when Jake spoke to the Israeli Defense Minister yesterday, did they talk about post-conflict Gaza, the plan for that?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: They di- — yes, they did. They did talk about that.
Let me see if I can find it. Yikes. Let me lay that out for you.
So, one of the things — like I said, they — yes, they did discuss that — Jake Sullivan and obviously the Defense Minister. They also discussed, obviously, a wide range of issues. And we issued out a readout of the conversation yesterday that they had.
Go ahead.
Q And on the what appeared to have been a failed coup in Bolivia.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, we’re glad that — that calm has been restored. And I’ll just leave it there.
Q I had a question about tomorrow. Can we go to tomorrow?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Tomorrow?
Q There’s an official event on his schedule. Do you have any details about what he’s going to be doing in New York City after —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, they’re — they will be campaign events. So, I would refer you to the campaign.
Q But it says “official” on the guidance.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, you’re talking about — not tomorrow. You’re talking about — oh, you’re talking about the New York pieces of it. We’ll have —
Q The first one.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: The first —
Q It said “official.” The second one —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We’ll have more to share later today. We’ll have more details to share for sure.
Q What about —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, are you guys just coming up with things at this point? (Laughter.)
Q No.
Q Thank you.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Thanks, everybody.
Q Thank you. Appreciate it.
END 2:28 P.M. EDT
