Wednesday 28 September 2022 09:17 PM Republicans demand Biden APOLOGIZE to late colleague Jackie Walorski's family ... trends now
Republicans lawmakers are demanding that Joe Biden apologize to late Representative Jackie Walorski's family after he called out for her during an event Wednesday and the White House tried to cover up for him forgetting she was deceased by saying she was 'at top of mind.'
The president was looking for Walorski during his remarks and specifically asked where she was – even after releasing a statement last month on her death after she and two of her staffers were killed in a car crash in Indiana.
'Jackie, are you here?' Where's Jackie?' Biden, 79, said during the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in D.C.
'She must not be here,' he concluded while thanking other lawmakers for the bipartisan effort aimed at ending hunger and food insecurity in the U.S. by 2030.
The moment immediately went viral on Twitter.
'Truly an awful and disgraceful blunder,' Missouri GOP Representative Vicky Hartzler noted in a Wednesday tweet.
'Jackie was a selfless leader and a dear friend,' she continued. 'Her family deserves better than this. Biden and the entire White House staff should apologize.'
At the White House briefing on Wednesday, Biden's spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to deflect from the gaffe by claiming she was on the president's mind due to her family's upcoming visit with the president on Friday.
'The White House Press Secretary completely failed to defend Biden's unacceptable comments about my late friend and colleague Jackie Walorski,' Arizona Representative David Schweikert tweeted after the briefing.
'The president should personally apologize to her family and loved ones immediately,' he demanded.
Republicans on the Judiciary Committee called Jean-Pierre's excuse 'disgusting' from the official Twitter account.
Republicans are demanding President Joe Biden apologize after asking a crowd at a hunger conference to point out Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski - almost two months after she was killed in a car crash in Indiana
'Jackie was a selfless leader and a dear friend,' GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler tweeted. 'Her family deserves better than this. Biden and the entire White House staff should apologize'
'The White House Press Secretary completely failed to defend Biden's unacceptable comments about my late friend and colleague Jackie Walorski,' Arizona Representative David Schweikert tweeted after the briefing
Representative Jim Banks, who introduced the bill to rename a Veterans Affairs clinic in Indiana after Walorski, which Biden is signing on Friday, told DailyMail.com that the blunder was 'embarrassing.'
Congressman Andy Biggs also jumped on the comments and tweeted with a clip of the video: 'Your daily reminder that Biden is mentally unfit to be the President of the United States.'
White House's explanation for why Biden was looking for Walorski was confusing and nonsensical – and only led to more questions over the latest gaffe.
The briefing room devolved into shouts as Jean-Pierre repeatedly suggested that the president did not forget Walorski was dead when calling out for her during his remarks earlier in the day.
Jean-Pierre insisted that it's 'not unusual' for people to say the names of deceased individuals when they are 'at top of mind,' a phrase she continued to repeat throughout her briefing Wednesday during questions from multiple outlets including CNN and CBS.
Walorski's family plans to meet with Biden at a White House on Friday, another reason that Jean-Pierre claims she was on the president's mind during the event.
Walorski died in a car crash in Indiana with two of her staffers in August. Biden released a statement at the time saying he was 'shocked and saddened' by her death
Biden's Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre repeatedly dismissed his gaffe, claiming the president was only calling out for Walorski because she was 'at top of mind' as her family prepares to visit the White House on Friday
'I think the American people out there who, you know, watch the briefing from time to time, maybe at this moment , will understand when someone is at top of mind,' Jean-Pierre said.
'I don't think it's all that unusual to have someone top of mind, especially as there's a big event – two big events – today and also Friday that is going to occur,' she said. 'And so he is going to see her family, they're going to honor her, they're going to celebrate her.'
The White House was scheduled to play a video tribute to Walorski during the event.
Walorski, who was 58 at the time of her death, was among the four people killed in a head-on collision on August 3, 2022 when returning from a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Claypool, Indiana.
The other deceased were the driver of the other vehicle as well as two staffers in the lawmaker's office, communications director, Emma Thomson, 28, and her district director, Zachery Potts, 27.
Biden released a statement on her passing at the time and announced that White House flags would fly at half-staff in her honor.
Jean-Pierre said that the comments needed to be taken into context so they made more sense, rather than admitting Biden made a mistake by forgetting Walorski was killed in the crash last month.
After being questioned on the mishap five times during the briefing, reporters began shouting over each other to try and get Jean-Pierre to answer the question more directly and give a more reasonable explanation.
This caused Jean-Pierre to shush and shut down Al Jazeera reporter Kimberly Halkett and call her 'rude.'
'I'm sorry, somebody was yelling over,' Jean-Pierre said when trying to redirect to a reporter asking an
