White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was on Thursday grilled by several journalists on President Joe Biden’s characterisation of Japan and India as “xenophobic”.
Jean-Pierre was asked during a briefing if Biden would phrase his remarks the same way as he had done on Wednesday during a campaign event.
“You know, that is up to the President. You know, he is — he is — he is the President. Whatever — however he sees a message — wanting to share a message to the American people, he will do so. And so, I can’t speak to — I can’t speak to that,” the White House press secretary meekly responded to the scribe's question.
In response to another question on if Biden's "off-the-cuff remarks" were harming US relationships in Indo-Pacific, Jean-Pierre sought to clarify that Biden was making a “broader point" on the importance of immigrants to the US.
Jean-Pierre suggested that "most leaders and allies" across the world understood what Biden was trying to convey, which she stressed was that the US was a "nation of immigrants".
A journalist also pointed out to the White House press secretary that "xenophobia" was a "very pejorative and a negative word" to be used against an ally and partners like Japan and India.
Biden Targeted India to Prop Up his Domestic Ratings, Analyst Says
A geopolitical analyst told Sputnik India on Thursday that Biden's remarks against India appeared to be "purely driven by domestic considerations" and served as a "distraction" from his domestic failures.
"Biden is very conveniently bringing in geopolitics and India into his presidential re-election campaign, while he continues to ignores pressing domestic problems such as illegal immigration through southern border, growing disenchantment among US voters on continuing aid to Ukraine or the growing anger among young Democrat voters over his administration's support to Israel," geopolitical analyst, Gulrez Sheikh said.