Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health Director Dr. Renee Wegrzyn En Route New Orleans, LA
Aboard Air Force One
En Route New Orleans, Louisiana
1:58 P.M. EDT
AIDE: I just want to make sure everyone knows it’s Karine’s birthday, so make sure you wish her happy birthday.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.) Aw.
Q Happy birthday!
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh! Who told you guys? What! (Laughter.)
All right. Thank you. Thanks, everybody. All right. Here we go.
So, as you guys know, we’re on our way to New Orleans, where President Biden and the first lady will participate in a tour and deliver remarks on how the President’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health — ARPA-H — program is fast-tracking progress in how we prevent, treat, and detect cancer.
The president worked with Democrats and Republicans in Congress to establish ARPA-H to drive breakthroughs in cancer and other diseases. In the first two years, ARPA-H has invested more than $400 million.
During the event, the president and the first lady will announce up to $150 million in ARPA-H funding that will go to some of our nation’s cutting-edge cancer research institutions, including Tulane University.
The president and the first lady’s leadership on the Cancer Moonshot has delivered significant results to achieve the ambitious, achievable goals they set to reduce the cancer death rate by at least half in the U.S. by 2047, which would save more than 4 million lives and to improve the experience of Americans touched by cancer.
They’re very proud of this initiative, it is a deeply personal one, and it’s one they will remain focused on advancing.
With that, I will turn it over to Dr. Renee We- — Wegrzyn — Wegrzyn —
DR. WEGRZYN: Wegrzyn.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — oh, thank goodness — director of ARPA-H. Thank you so much for (inaudible), Doc. Go ahead.
DR. WEGRZYN: Thank you. Happy to be here. Thanks, Karine.
Surgical procedures are often the first treatment option for some 2 million Americans diagnosed with cancer every year, but a lack of precision in those surgeries can lead to repeat surgeries, harder recoveries, cancer recurrence, and higher health care costs.
Our hope is to advance cancer surgery so that we remove cancer the first time and every time. This is why President Biden established ARPA-H two years ago to drive these types of innovation and fast-track that progress.
Today, ARPA-H is announcing up to $150 million to develop novel technologies to remove cancerous tumors with higher accuracy. Tulane is one of the teams selected by our Precision Surgical Interventions — or PSI — program.
The innovations sought are in two technical areas. The first, which President Biden and the first lady will firsthand see at Tulane, is focused on visualizing the surface of tumors, both excised and still in the body, at cellular resolution and identifying any cancer cells left. If there are, the surgeon will remove more tissue prior to closing up the patient.
Funded teams will develop different microscopy techniques to do this work, and the images will be read and classified automatically using AI and machine learning and assisted capabilities without a pathologist in the OR.
In addition to Tulane, other funded teams include Rice University, the University of Washington, the University of California at San Francisco, the University of Illinois Champai- — Urbana-Champaign, and Johns Hopkins University.
The second focus area is on making critical anatomy more visible to surgeons, reducing unintentional injuries to structures like nerves, blood vessels, or lymph ducts. Funded teams include Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth College, and Cision Vision.
PSI is just one of ARPA-H’s programs driving progress in President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden’s Cancer Moonshot. In ARPA-H’s short two-year history, we’ve already invested over $400 million in cancer-focused efforts.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. With that, Will, do you want to kick us off?
Q Perfect. Thanks. Happy birthday again.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thanks. I appreciate it.
Q I’ve got two — two questions. On —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Do you have any questions for the doc first?
Q I do not.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Who has questions for the doc? And then, we’ll let her go. If any — no questions?
Q I guess I just have one about just the prospect of sort of ending cancer. And, you know, it’s something that President Biden has worked on for a long time and has been very concerned about.
I mean, how realistic is it that we’re going to see significant drops and changes in cancer rates and deaths?
DR. WEGRZYN: You want to me to take this one?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, you take this one. Yeah.
DR. WEGRZYN: So, I’ll — I’ll start off. So, I think that is part of the — the vision of ARPA-H is to go after some of those really bold breakthrough technologies. The $400 million we’re investing — right? — just from cancer surgery, like you’ll hear about today, all the way to tuning your immune system and to even screening and making sure we catch cancers earlier with our new Poseidon program.
And so, I do think it’s that — that accumulation of those multiple ex- — experiments, really — those projects to attack those different angles of cancer over time will start to really minimize those risks.
Q I mean, it’s called a “moonshot.”
DR. WEGRZYN: Right.
Q Is it sort of pie in the sky?
DR. WEGRZYN: Yeah, right. Absolutely.
Q Is it like — you know, is it — how — how realistic is it?
DR. WEGRZYN: Well, I think that’s what ARPAs do really well is we — we look at those moonshots and we break down those challenges into those bite-sized projects and programs that really allow us to deliverable — deliver measurable progress forward.
And so, I do think it is achievable and we have to make these investments in order to close that gap. It’s the only way to do it.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Inaudible.)
Q (Inaudible) continue after the president is no — no longer the president? Like, are — you know, do you expect the same level of investment and focus on this issue?
DR. WEGRZYN: So, an ARPA-H investment is agnostic to the disease or technology. We look for those areas where our investment will have that asymmetrical advancement to the state-of-the-art.
And so, in the case of the PSI program, you’re here on the week that we’re kicking it off. And so, that project will take place over the course of four or five years. And those teams — excuse me — will have milestones that we’ll be monitoring over time.
So, this will absolutely extend well into the future and we’ll be launching new projects as new programs and program managers are added to the agency.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. All right. Thanks, doc. Appreciate it.
DR. WEGRZYN: Thank you very much.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you so much.
Q Just to be clear, the 150 is part of the 400?
DR. WEGRZYN: Yes. Correct.
Q Is it the first money being dispersed?
DR. WEGRZYN: No, it’s not. So, the current effort that I had the pleasure of traveling with Dr. Biden last year at Emory University was the — the initial first investments in Cancer Moonshot.
And so, around the corner, we’re making these awards for PSI. But in a few months, we’ll be making awards on our Poseidon program that we just — that we just launched last week, which is a cancer screening program to really push into — have low-cost solutions so that everybody will have that equal access to that cancer screening.
Q Would you say that’s in a few months — the —
DR. WEGRZYN: It launched last week, and that’s that call for proposals, call for solicitation. We’re looking for those teams of solvers that — that will be making those awards. And those awards will come several months after we’ve received those proposals and do those reviews.
Q Will that happen before the electi- — before the election?
DR. WEGRZYN: No, it — no, it will not. So, the Proposers’ Day happens September 4th. This is where you hear the vision of the program managers. Proposals will be due about a month after that. And then, the program manager needs several months to review those — those applications. So, it’ll be winter next year.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, and it’s al- — it’s also not about politics, right? This is something that the — that is incredibly personal to the president and the first lady. This is, you know — this is a new approach, a new agency to find breakthroughs in dealing with something that affects millions of Americans — and not just millions of Americans but, obviously, their families as well — Americans that are going through — going to have to deal with cancer but also their families.
So, this is — as you know, this is — and I said at the top — this is very personal to them. This is not about politics. This is really, truly about saving lives.
DR. WEGRZYN: Excellent.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right.
DR. WEGRZYN: Yep. Great.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you so much.
Q Thank you.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thanks, Doc.
Will.
Q Terrific. Okay. So, two things. So, on the Ukraine incursion into Russia. Did the U.S. have a heads-up at all that that was coming beforehand? Is the U.S. playing any kind of leadership role or helping to guide that?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No.
Q And —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Absolutely not.
Q — is there any prohibition against the use of U.S. weapons as part of it?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I will say: No, we had nothing to do with this. This is something for the Ukrainians to speak to their military operations. Our policy — right? — has not changed on this.
What we are going continue to do, as we have been for the past two y- — two — more than two-plus years, is to continue to, you know, provide Ukraine with the assistance that they need to stop the aggression or to beat back the aggression of Russia.
Obviously, they are — they are attacking — Russia is attacking their sovereignty, their freedom. And Ukrainian people have been incredibly brave in what they’ve been able to do.
But we have no involvement. We’ll continue to have conversations with the Ukrainians about their approach. But it is really for them to speak to. I don’t have anything else to add.
Q Might this escalate the war, you think?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I just — I’m not going to speculate from here. I’m not going to speculate.
Remember, this is Russia’s war. This is their invasion. This is their aggression into a — a sovereign country. And the Ukrainians have been incredibly brave in beating back that aggression.
Q Okay. I got a — one more topic. On the hack. When was the FBI informed?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So —
Q And —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q And — and the other part of that is: Is there any indication that any other political entity has been infected, like Senate race campaigns or, I don’t know, super PACs, something like that?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, with that, the investigation, what’s being looked into, that’s for — something for the Department of Justice and the FBI to speak to. I can’t speak to that from here.
As we have said many times, it’s — more broadly — right? — the Biden-Harris administration surely condemns any foreign government or entity who attempt to interfere in our el- — electoral process or seek to undermine confidence in our democratic institutions.
So, we take any reports of this type of activity incredibly seriously. But as far as detail, specifics, that’s something for the Department of Justice —
Q Can you say when the FBI was notified, at least?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Say that one more time.
Q When was the FBI notified that this occurred?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, that — I mean, that really is something for DOJ and the FBI to speak to. I can’t speak to that from here.
Q Karine —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q Thank you.
Q — just on — a follow-up on the question on Kursk. You said that, you know, we had nothing to do with it.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q But were you given a heads-up —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No. No.
Q No — no advance notice?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No.
Q Has the president spoken to anyone, you know, in the Ukrainian government? Is he — is he going to talk to —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I don’t —
Q — Volodymyr Zelenskyy?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — have anything — I don’t have anything to share on — I don’t have anything to share on any conversations.
As you know, there was a conversation that he’s had with allies and partners yesterday. One of the topic was our continued support for Ukraine. I just don’t have anything to share beyond that.
As it relates to their military operations, that’s something Ukraine should speak to. And so, I’ll just leave it at that.
Q Okay. And then on the Middle East. The — you know, the hope had been that there would be a ceasefire deal reached long before now. There — you know, do you see any opportunity to proceed if Hamas is refusing to come back to the table?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, obviously, we’re aware of the comments. What we expect is that we fully expect to — to move forward, as they should. As you know, August 15th is when folks are going to come back to the table. All negotiators should return to that table and bring this deal to conclusion.
It is time for Hamas to release the hostages, which include American citizens, and bring relief to the people of Gaza under the deal that is now on the table. And that’s what the president ha- — and his team has been working on around the clock, and that’s what we want to — want to see.
Q How exasperated is the president with Benjamin Netanyahu? There was, you know — I mean, he’s been pushing him, been giving him the backing to say, “We’ll support you. We defend y- — support your right to defend yourself.” But there have been continued attacks. You’ve been asked about that. You know, is there some level of frustration that’s rising?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, our — our c- — our commitment to Israel to be able to defend itself is ironclad. That will stand. That will be — that will continue.
As you know — you’ve heard me say, and you’ve heard my NSC colleagues say it — the president and the prime minister have had decades-long relationship. It is a honest relationship. Because of that long-term relationship, they’re — the president is able to be very direct with the prime minister.
And — so, you know, I will say that nothing has changed.
Look, we want to continue to do everything that we can to get a ceasefire. That’s how we believe the de-escalation will happen in the region. That’s how we believe to get hostages home, to get more — to more — more of the humanitarian aid in, and to end this war.
That’s what this president wants to see. So, diploma- — we want to see that done in a diplomatic way.
And I do h- — I want to share that, as I’ve said, we’ve worked diplomatically and militarily to deter any further escalation by Iran and its proxy terrorist — terrorist groups against Israel and to support border de-escalation in the region.
As part of those effort, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan has directed Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk and Senior Advisor Amas — Amos Hochstein — Hochstein to travel to the region. Brett will travel to Cairo and then onwards to Doha. Als- — Amos will travel to Beirut.
And so — and as — as it relates to the State Department, I know there’s been conversation about the secretary of state and also Director Burns. I would refer you to their respective agencies.
But, again, this — what we believe the best way to move forward is to — to do this in a diplomatic way. That’s what you’ve seen the president do, certainly, the last couple of weeks. Now you see his team is going to be on the ground in the region to continue that dip- — those diplomatic efforts. And we’re going to continue to work on that hostage deal, that ceasefire deal. We believe it is the best way to move forward when we talk about de-escalating the tension in the Middle East.
Q Last night, President Trump, in conversation with Elon Musk, suggested that a second country had an Iron Done — Dome system. President — former President Trump’s suggestion of the Iron Dome, is that accurate? And is there any concern that he potentially revealed classified information or —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look — so, there’s a lot to unpack with that conversation last night. That is more — I think it’s something that the campaign can speak to since
Donald Trump is certainly a — a presidential candidate. So, I’m just not going to — I’m not going to g- — dive into — dive into that at this time.
Q Okay. And then, next, the president had previously said that he, you know, had planned to visit Africa after winning reelection. Now that he is no longer running, is there — is he still, I guess, planning to make that trip to Africa? Do you have any plans —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So —
Q — or guidance you can share there?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Once we have anything to share on travel, whether domestically or foreign — foreign travel, we certainly will share that with you. Obviously, the next five months are incredibly important to the — to the president on delivering for the American people, whether it is domestic issues or foreign policy, national security issues.
Everything that the president does, obviously, is focused on the American people. Don’t have anything to share with you on travel. But as soon as we lock anything in and we’re ready to announce it, obviously, you all will — will know.
Q Just as a follow-up about the Elon Musk X conversation. Did the president tune in to that at all? And was there any more broad response to — I mean, there was a lot of criticism to the president’s record, for example, on the border.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, you know, I certainly didn’t watch it. I didn’t speak to the president about it. It’s not our focus. I mean, really — it really isn’t.
Our focus right now is today. We’re going to be in New Orleans. We’re going to talk about an — an incredibly important issue to both the president and the first lady and the vice president — our administration, more broadly — which is Cancer Moonshot, this important min- — announcement — $150 million announcement that you’ll see the president speak to. Not going to get ahead of he and the — and the first lady.
And so, this is important. This is truly an important day. That’s our focus.
As it relates to the border, you’ve heard me talk about how the president worked for a couple of months to get that really all-important bipartisan border deal to get — to make sure there are more Border Patrol agents, to make sure that we’re dealing with the challenges at the border.
And Republicans who came forward, sat at the table with us, and negotiated, they walked away from it. They voted twice against their own deal because the former president told them not to move forward with it because it would be good politics for Joe Biden and bad politics for him.
And so, that is where we are. Instead of being with the American people — majority of American people, Republicans didn’t — that voted against the interests of Americans.
And so, we want to move forward. As it relates to the border, we want to move forward and really deliver a real way — path forward to dealing with the immigration — a broken immigration system that’s been broken for decades. That’s what the president wants to see. That’s what the vice president wants to see.
And those are the facts. Like, those are the facts. And that’s the only thing that I can speak to.
Q Okay. And the second follow-up about the border. Numbers have been down for the last five or six months quite substantially compared to the end of last year. Is the — is the expectation that that will continue over the coming months or if it will — will the numbers start to trickle up again?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean — I mean, look, so, we believe the best way to move forward is legislation. We believe the best way to do that is to do it in a bipartisan way. That’s why the president worked for a couple of months to get that done.
And we had something on the table that would have been the toughest, the taire- — the fairest border legislation — border deal legislation — immigration legislation that we had seen in some time.
Republicans walked away from their own negotiating process. And they also walked away from the American people.
So, the president took action. Right? And he put forth some processes, and we have seen a drop at — at the border, which is good, which is something that, obviously, we wanted to see.
I can’t speak to — right? — there’s an influx — you hear talk about, like, every month that they’re — depending on the season, it — influx, what’s happening at the border. So, don’t — I can’t — I can’t predict what it’s going to look like.
What I can say is this president, this vice president, and this administration is going to do everything that we can to deal with the challenges that we’re seeing at the border. And right now, we’re doing it on our own — right? — because Republicans in Congress don’t — they don’t want it.
Q On that point, the president had previously suggested maybe returning to legislation — immigration legislation. Is — is that being seen and done in earnest at all? Or are you —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, we want to see that. Again, that bipartisan border legislation that was going to — that was the deal that was going to come out of the Senate — or that came out of the Senate — would have been the toughest and the fairest. We want to see that moving forward.
We’re not getting in the way of that. We’re ready. We’re ready to move forward. Republicans in Congress are getting in the way of that. So, they got to get out of their own way in order to deal with an issue that matters, again, to a majority of Americans.
We are ready. We are ready anytime to move forward with that — with that negotiation that was put forth in the Senate. They’re — but we can’t do it by oursel- —
Q Karine, there —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — by ourselves, right? It’s a bipartisan way to — path to move forward.
Go ahead.
Q There was a — a lot of sort of pushback yesterday to the Time is Money initiative where, you know, the Chamber of Commerce and others say it’s going to add unnecessary layers of bureaucracy and regulation. What do you say to that?
And is the president planning further actions? We’ve seen the junk fees. We’ve seen —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q — greedflation initiatives.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q Are we expecting more in coming months?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, this administration is going to continue to stand up for consumers and hold corporate — corporations accountable when they take actions that harm people, period. At the same time, we’ll continue to work with companies from a variety of industries to lower costs and create good-paying jobs.
If your business — this is for example — if your business needs to trap and trick customers into keeping services they no longer need, then there is something wrong with your business model. There just is.
With stronger rules of the road in place, companies can compete on the basis of price and quality of service and stop engaging in a race of — to the bottom by hitting consumers with supir- — surprise fees; hidden contact — hidden contract terms; or unnecessary hurdles that waste their time and money.
That’s what our Time as — is Money initiative is all about. And that’s what you’ve seen. Whether it’s junk fees — right? — we are going to do everything that we can. This is part of that lowering costs that we talked about and also just getting rid of cost that is unnecessary.
On Thursday, you’re going to hear from both the president and the vice president. We’re going to make an announcement on what — the next steps that we’re doing to lower costs. I’m not going to get ahead of them. Obviously, we’ll share a little bit more as we get closer to Thursday.
But that has always been our focus — right? — lowering costs for Americans, protecting — having their backs — having workers’ backs as they’re being taken advantage of by corporations. And that’s not okay. That’s not okay for this president or this vice president.
Q So, the pre- — that Thursday event that you’re talking about is the culmination of the negotiations on prescription drug prices?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’m not going to get ahead of the announcement, but it will be a lower cost announcement. And I think this is about the American people. This is about the right thing to do, how to protect consumers, how to protect American families, and so — and how to continue to lower costs for them.
And that’s what you’re going to hear from — from both the president and vice president.
Q Karine —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Yeah.
Q Yesterday, John Kirby told reporters that a impact — Iran’s attack on Israel could impact this ceasefire negotiation deal coming to the table. Is the administration still confident in this ability to move forward?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We are very much going to do everything that we can to move forward. Right? We believe negotiators should come to the table. We believe getting to a ceasefire deal is the best way to de-escalate the tensions that we’re seeing.
But not only that ceasefire — stopping the war — the president wants to end the war. He wants to see hostages, including American hostages, come home. He wants to make sure the people of Gaza get in — get more humanitarian aid. I mean, this is — we believe the best way to move forward is having these diplomatic talks.
We’re going to see the continuation of the conversation for the ceasefire deal happening in Doha on August 15th, which is just in two days, on — on Thursday.
And so, we encourage everyone — we want to see everybody come back to the table. And that is — we believe getting that ceasefire deal — the president believes this — is the best way to go here. And so, we’re going to continue to work around the clock to get that done.
Q Can I ask you a quick one? Piggybacking off of that.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q You know, Israel expanded some of its demands for a ceasefire past what the U.S. had originally. Does the U.S. agree with the — with those expansions?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I’m not going to negotiate in public. I’m just not. I’m going to let folks who are the experts on this sit around the negotiating table and talk this through. I’m just not going to — I’m not going to negotiate in public.
All right?
Q Just one other thing on student loans.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Q We’re waiting to see if the Supreme Court might step in to the challenges on the SAVE Plan that have been pending for a while. Does the president have a message to the 8 million Americans that have enrolled up to this point and could be in jeopardy of losing that?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, this president has been acting since day one — obviously, I’m not going to talk to leti- — litigation. He’s acting since day one to make sure that he gives American families a little bit of breathing room. And — and one of those ways is dealing with student loans.
And you’ve seen him act — even when Republicans have gotten in the way, you’ve seen him act and take action with that.
You have 168 — he has been able to cancel more than $168 billion in debt for nearly 5 million. So, he’s taken action. He’s going to continue to do that. The SAVE Plan obviously is — is one — is one way of doing that — continuing on that.
And so, that’s his message. His message to millions of Americans across the country is that he has their backs and he’s going to continue to take action. I’m not going to speak to the SAVE Plan, as it’s in the litigation.
Q Kar- — Karine, how is the president feeling with the DNC right around the corner now? I mean, what’s kind of his — his energy, his mood, his vibe? How’s he —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, yeah, you’ll see a little bit of his vibe later — (laughter) — later today.
So, look, it’s — it’s a political event, so going to be mindful on not talking about too much going into that — to — to details. But what I will say is that, as you heard the president underline in his CBS interview, he is proud that we have built the strongest record of any modern administration, and we’re fighting hard to deliver more results for middle-class families.
President Biden and Vice President Harris inherited a country that was paralyzed because of COVID. It was a once-in-a-century pandemic. And what they were able to do by passing the American Rescue Plan — that only Democrats voted on — very early in the first four months into his administration was get shots in arms, money in pockets, open up schools, open up businesses. And so, that is something that this president is very much proud of; this vice president is very much proud of.
We acted and turned out — turned all of — of that around, obviously: ending the pandemic, delivering the strongest job and economic growth in the world, and the lowest violent cri- — and the lowest violent crime rate in nearly 50 years.
And so, now we’re — we’re fighting to give tax relief to middle-class families, have the wealth[y] pay their fair share, to restore the protections of Roe, and pass tough bipartisan border security deal.
And on the other side — MAGA economics — what they want to do is give tax cuts to billionaires and corporations. They want to gu- — gut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. I mean, that’s what they want to put forward, and what that’s going to do is hurt working families.
And so, what this president and this vice president is going to do is continue to fight for working families. And so, that’s what I can speak to. That’s what you can expect the president to continue to speak to and the vice president, certainly not just next week but beyond next week.
Q Former President Trump a couple days ago suggested, I think for the second time, that it would make sense to cut taxes on Social Security benefits for seniors on Medicare. What is the position on that —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, we’ve been very clear.
Q — (inaudible)?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Again, got to be mindful because he’s a candidate. But the president has always said he’s going to protect Social Security, he’s going to protect Medicare, he’s going to prote- — protect Medicaid. We’ve — we’ve heard him —
Q But this one — this isn’t about cutting So- — Social Security. It’s about cutting, you know, or reducing the taxes or eliminating the taxes that people are — have to pay on their Social Security payments, benefits.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, yeah, I hear you. And so, look, I’m going to be really mindful. I’m not speaking to that directly because it’s a — it’s a campaign issue, so the campaign can speak to that.
We’ve always said that we’re going to protect — protect Americans, especially as it deals with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid. That has always been our commitment.
Republicans have always said the opposite — always said the opposite. We saw that during the State of the Union, not just this past one but the one before. But they’ve been pretty consistent on how they see moving forward with Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid, which is gutting it, cutting it, and making it more harmful to Americans.
So, we’re going to f- — we’re going to protect them. We’re going to protect those really important programs that matter to millions of Americans across the country. And so, that’s what I can speak to. I’m just not going to speak to — to specific policies at this moment.
All right?
Q So, the president, he’s obviously d- — in New — New Orleans for the Moonshot event today, and then he’s thinking about the DNC next week. Is he starting to think about his post-presidency? Is there — is there anything you can share about what he —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, you’re going to hear directly from the president in the next — you know, next week and the next couple of weeks. I think his CBS interview and also his Oval address that he gave right after he decided to step aside gave you a little bit of insight of his thinking process of how proud he was to have — to be doing this job.
And so, I’m going to not get ahead of him. He’ll lay that out for all of you. But this is a president that has taken his presidency very seriously. And you see that with the unprecedented, you know, actions that he’s taken — historic presidency that he’s had. And so, you’ll hear fr- — more from him, so I don’t want to get ahead of this president.
All right. Thanks, everybody.
Q Thanks, Karine.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: My ears —
Q Happy birthday.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you so much. My ears are popping.
Q Happy birthday.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you so much.
2:27 P.M. EDT
