Press Gaggle by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and Campaign Communications Director Michael Tyler En Route Queens, NY

Aboard Air Force One
En Route Queens, New York

3:02 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Hi, everybody.

Q    Hello.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I have Michael Tyler with me as well.  I just have one thing at the top, and then we’ll get going. 

So, today, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the state’s extreme and dangerous abortion ban can go into effect.  This latest abortion ban and the 21 other abortion bans across the country were made entirely possible by the previous administration when three Supreme Court justices were handpicked with the goal of overturning Roe v. Wade.

In Iowa, abortion will now be banned before a lot — before a lot of women even know they’re pregnant. 

These bans put women’s health and lives in jeopardy.  They’re scary, they’re dangerous, and they infringe on our fundamental freedoms. 

And it’s not stopping at the state level.  Republican elected officials in Congress have proposed four national abortion bans while refusing to protect nationwide access to IVF and contraception. 

President Biden believes that women in every state must have the right to make deeply personal decisions about their health care.  And — and he will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections or Roe v. Wade in federal law once — once and for all. 

And with that, I have our communica- — well, the president’s campaign communications director, to be clear, Michael Tyler, who is going to take any campaign questions that you have.  I — I think you had something at the top, right?

MR. TYLER:  Yeah, I’ll just start and open up too.  Good to see everybody. 

Everybody was obviously at the speech today in North Carolina.  You know, the president came, gave a very forceful, powerful speech today in North Carolina talking about the stakes of this election, calling Trump to task not just for the lies that he spewed on the debate stage last night but for the fundamental contrasts that we have in this race moving forward, the things that Donald Trump talked about on the debate stage — him celebrating the role that he played in overturning Roe v. Wade — right?; him denying or refusing to commit to accept the results of the election if he’s — loses it again this time; and, of course, the extreme economic approach he wants to return us to.  The president spoke about all of that again today. 

Obviously, I think the president said himself he’s not as good as a debater as he used to be.  He doesn’t walk or talk as smoothly as he used to.  But he knows how to fight like hell.  And I think he showed that today in North Carolina. 

And so, that’s what the American people are going to continue to see day in and day out for the remainder of this campaign: a president in Joe Biden who understands he’s never going to stop fighting for the American people and he’s never going to stop contrasting that against Donald Trump, who every single day is clearly fighting for himself. 

I think what you saw last night after the debate was the president leave the debate stage; go rally supporters — grassroot supporters in Atlanta; went and got some food at Waffle House — excuse me; hopped on the plane here to Raleigh; touched down in Raleigh at nearly 2:00 a.m. to a b- — meet a bunch of supporters on the tarmac, shook every single hand; then got back up this morning, gave the speech that we all just saw, made a forceful demonstration of what the choice and what the stakes are in this election; and he’s going to continue to do that day in and day out for the remainder of this campaign. 

So, we’re excited coming off of today.  He understands that sometimes you get knocked down, but you get back up and you keep fighting.  And that’s exactly why the American people elected him in the first place, and it’s why they’re going to reelect him again in November.  So, with that, I’ll take a few questions.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Darlene.

Q    Given the president’s appearance in Raleigh, was it a mistake to insist on no audience for the debate?

And secondly, what kind of outreach is the campaign doing to Democrats and others who are concerned about winning in November based on his performance last night?

MR. TYLER:  Yeah, so, I think one of the things that the American people got to see last night on the debate stage was Donald Trump in prime time as well.  They got to see the Donald Trump that has been speaking at the MAGA rallies since he launched his campaign, where he has, every single day, been talking about ruling as a dictator on day one, where he’s been calling for a bloodbath, where he’s been celebrating January 6th, promising to pardon the insurrectionists of January 6th. 

The vast majority of the American people had not heard that at all until last night.  And so, last night was one of the first times that the American people are going to begin to see the extremism that Donald Trump represents and just how harmful a second Trump term would be moving forward. 

So, I think the President is honest about his own performance.  But as far as what last night’s debate actually provided for the American people, it — it crystallized the threat — it begins to crystallize the threat that Donald Trump poses. 

And so, that’s what we’re going to continue to focus on as we head into the summer months, as more and more people begin to tune into this election and Donald Trump, who’s no longer in the — on the sidelines of American politics, returns to the

limelight.

Q    And not having an audience?

MR. TYLER:  No, listen, I th- — again, I think it forced Donald Trump — you — what you saw Donald Trump do throughout the course of that debate as it went on was — obviously, he spent the entire night lying.  But as the debate went on in prime time, without an audience for him to feed off of, he became more unhinged, he started to spew more and more lies, and he reminded the American people of exactly why they fired him in the first place.

When he said that the overturning of Roe was a great thing; again, when he refused to commit to accept the results of an election; when he, again, said that his corporate ta- — giveaways were the right thing to do — that’s what the American people have rejected already.  They have not necessarily heard him say that in prime time, but that’s what they got to see last night.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay —

MR. TYLER:  I think he’ll —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh, I’m so sorry. 

MR. TYLER:  Go ahead.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I’m so sorry. 

MR. TYLER:  No, no.  Go.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, no, no, no. 

MR. TYLER:  Go ahead.

Q    Michael, can you explain the president’s performance last night?  I know you’re focused on Trump and what he said, but the president himself, by all — he was unable to answer some questions, meandered, was clearly very different last night than he was this morning.  Can you just explain what happened and why — why he performed like that?

MR. TYLER:  Yeah, I think the president said it himself today.  You know, he didn’t have the best night on the debate stage.  But we’d rather have one bad night than a candidate with a bad vision for where he wants to take the country. 

And, again, I think that’s what the American people saw in Donald Trump last night.  It’s certainly what they’re going to see with him as he returns to a MAGA rally in Virginia today.  They’re going to see exactly why they fired him in the first place as the — as he continues to be more and more in the limelight moving forward.

Q    And do you firmly reject any calls for the president to consider stepping aside or not running again?  Are there any conversations about that?

MR. TYLER:  There are no conversations about that whatsoever.  The Democratic voters elected — nominated Joe Biden.  Joe Biden is the nominee.  Joe Biden — and a couple of things I would point to about this too. 

If you look at the actual — what we actually saw since the debate last night, we have seen, again, the president go to North Carolina, touch down, had thousands of supporters in the state of North Carolina rally around him. 

But we also raised $14 million yesterday.  In fact, the 11:00  hour was our most successful grassroots fundraising hour of the entirety of the campaign.  That is Democratic voters tuning in, telling Joe Biden that they’ve got his back for the fight ahead because they understand that he’s fighting for them.

Q    And just a quick one.  Does the president commit to appearing at the debate in September?

MR. TYLER:  Oh, absolutely.  That’s what we laid out when we challenged Donald Trump to two debates.  Joe Biden will be there on September 10th.  We’ll see what Donald Trump does.

(Cross-talk.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Steve.  Go ahead, Steve.  Go ahead, Steve.

Q    Michael, what’s your assessment of all this criticism from fellow Democrats about his performance?

MR. TYLER:  Listen, I’ve also seen people — like Governor Shapiro, Governor Walz, Governor Whitmer, Speaker — Speaker-to-be Jeffries as well, who talked about the president who was on that debate stage, obviously, fighting for the American people and on the stage today in North Carolina demonstrating that he’s always going to get back up and continue to fight for the American people every single day and lay out the fundamental stakes of this election. 

Are we going to have a president who fights for the American people, protects their freedoms, stands up for our democracy, fights for an economy that grows from the middle out and the bottom up? 

Or are you going to have somebody like Donald Trump, who made it very clear on the debate stage last night, makes it very clear every single day on the stump that he is fighting for himself as a convicted felon?

He does not care about the harm that he causes, the chaos that he causes, the division or the violence that he sows so long as Donald Trump comes out on top.  That’s what the President called out today in North Carolina.  And that’s the choice that we’re going to continue to present to the American people going forward.

Q    Has the — has the president made any phone calls to fellow Democratic leaders trying to calm people down?

MR. TYLER:  I can’t — I can’t speak to that.

Yeah. 

Q    And — and how is he —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

Q    First, is the president sick?  And did that affect his preparation for the campaign?

MR. TYLER:  I know that the president did have a sore throat. 

Q    But is he sick?  Does he have a cold?

MR. TYLER:  I think you saw the president today on the stage in North Carolina forcefully deliver remarks today.  So, it’s certainly not — the president would not cite his sore throat as an excuse for the debate performance.  He had a bad night.  He said that, right?  And it’s about how you get back up.  And that’s what we saw in North Carolina today.

Q    And — and would you — would you change the format for the next debate?  Or are you comfortable with — with the way C- — CNN conducted the debate?

MR. TYLER:  Listen, I — I think what you saw was Donald Trump get up there and lie to the American people.  And I think the American people, as we move forward, are going to see that as they see him in prime time over and over and over again. 

So, what this campaign is focused on right now, on June 28th and as we move forward, is communicating directly with the American people not just what the president’s vision is for where — where he wants to take the country over the course of the next four years but, again, as people begin to understand the stakes and see Donald Trump back in the limelight, once again, reminding them of the lies, of the chaos that he sowed, of the division that he sowed, of the violence that he sowed. 

That’s what they saw on the debate stage last night.  And that’s why they fired him four years ago.  So, we’re going to make sure that people continue to see that as we move into the summer months.

(Cross-talk.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.

Q    Is th- — is the strategy going to change at all now after this debate?  I mean, President Biden today said that he’s not as good — as good a debater as he once was.  He says he has a cold.  So, kind of, which is it?  And is — how is the strategy going to change going forward?

MR. TYLER:  Well, the strategy doesn’t change at all.  Our strategy, as I just said, moving forward is to relentlessly communicate directly with the American people between June 28th and November. 

We are going to — the president right now — what did he do after he got off the debate stage?  He went straight to North Carolina to rally the troops here in the Tar Heel State, where the vice president is touching down in — out west in Nevada, doing the exact same thing right now.

We’re going to relentlessly communicate across the airwaves, on the ground.  We have 300 field offices that are opened up.  We’re going to relentlessly work to reach the voters that are going to decide the pathway to 270 electoral votes. 

We have the candidate that beat Donald Trump in 2020.  We have the team that beat Donald Trump in 2020.  And we are confident that if we keep our heads down and do the work, the American people are once again going to side with Joe Biden.

Q    But age continues to be an issue for this campaign.  So, after last night, how — how could you not rethink some of the strategy here?

MR. TYLER:  Well, listen, age — the president himself has said it’s fair for the American people to consider age.  But what’s clear is that age is not going to be the contrast in this race.  Joe Biden is 81 years old.  Donald Trump is 78 years old. 

Joe Biden, every single day, is fighting for an economy that actually works for working people.  That’s fundamentally what they’re going to vote on.  They’re going to vote about — on the issues.  They’re going to vote for the candidate who is actually fighting for them. 

And it is very clear on all the issues that matter — from people’s economic weel- — well-being to which candidate is actually going to respect and restore a woman’s fundamental right to make her own choices about her body to defending and protecting our democracy — the only candidate fighting for them is Joe Biden.

Donald Trump, clearly fighting for himself and fighting against the American people on all those issues. 

That’s what — that’s how the voters are going to fundamentally make their decision. 

Q    Did you feel like the president performed differently in the debate prep?  Did you see any kind of difference?

MR. TYLER:  Listen, the president himself said he, you know, didn’t have the best night.  I think everybody understands that.  And what you saw him do today was to get right back up and carry on the fight.  That’s exactly what people in North Carolina saw.  That’s what people across America are going to see.  And that’s what we’re going to see in the days to come. 

This — this is a president who understands that he’s never going to stop fighting for the American people, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Tyler.  We’re going to wrap it up.  Go ahead, Tyler.

Q    (Inaudible) million people watched the debate last night.  A lot fewer will have seen the president’s performance in North Carolina today.  So, how do you make up for that gap of the people who just saw the image last night and did not see the rally that you guys are excited about today?

MR. TYLER:  Yeah, that’s why you have a campaign: to relentlessly communicate the president, his vision, his message.  It’s not just the travel on the ground.  It’s not just on television.  It’s how we package and disseminate content.

I would actually look at a lot of the work that we did with content creators — not just last night but continuing to today.  We’re going to continue to — to communicate relentlessly and use all channels of communication to make sure that people actually see the fighter in Joe Biden who got up on that stage today and will do so in the weeks to come.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    A rally — a rally is vastly different than a debate.  So, back to, sort of, the strategy angle.  If they are going to have a second matchup in September, what is the actual strategic difference in preparation so that you have more of what happened today at the rally and less of what happened last night at the debate?

MR. TYLER:  Listen, we’ll talk more about the second debate as we get closer to the second debate.  What we’re focused on right now in — on June 28th is doing what we’re doing today: getting back out on the stump, communicating directly with the voters that are going to decide the election in the battleground states. 

You have the president here in North Carolina — again, the vice president in Nevada — on the ground talking with the voters in those states that are going to decide this election.  I think you saw how North Carolinians responded to the president’s message and his vision today in North Carolina.  You’re going to see the same thing out west, where people get a chance to see Kamala Harris. 

And that’s what our focus is going to be on — right? — directly engaging the voters, making sure that all of our organizers — we have over a thousand organizers across all the battleground states who are relentlessly doing the work on the ground.  Our paid advertisements continue to be aggressive.  They continue to — to outpace the work that Donald Trump is doing, who’s still — the vast majority of the money that his campaign is raising is still doing things like paying legal fees for somebody who’s now a convicted felon.  Right?  I think it’s in stark contrast.

Given the polarized electorate that we’re in, given the fact that both of these candidates are so well known, the work that the candidates and the campaigns are doing to turn out and organize their voters matters that much more.  And so, that’s what this campaign is going to be focused on as we head into the summer.

Q    One la- —

Q    Can you —

Q    One last thing.  Will you review how you do the debate preparation for — you know, m- — examine whether you need to do some things, need to do more things?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  He just — he just —

MR. TYLER:  Again, I think I just answered that question.  I said we’d —

Q    I didn’t hear it.

MR. TYLER:  — think more — that’s okay.  We’d — we’ll — we’ll approach the second debate when we get closer to the second debate.  Our focus right now is on communicating directly with the voters.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right, Darlene.  Last question.  Last question.

Q    Can you give us some details about the event tonight in New York City?

MR. TYLER:  I got nothing for you yet. 

Q    Nothing?

MR. TYLER:  You’ll have to tune in.

Q    How is that possible?  (Laughter.)

MR. TYLER:  I got — you all will just have to wait.  (Laughs.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Lauren, you have last question.

Q    Are you considering any staffing changes on the campaign after last night?

MR. TYLER:  Absolutely not.  This is the team that beat Donald Trump in 2020.  It’s the candidate to beat Jon- — Donald Trump in 2020.  And we’re going to beat him in 2024. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right, Tyler.  Really, really, really the last question.

Q    But there was an all-staff meeting today with the campaign.  What was the message that was sent to the —

MR. TYLER:  There was, but I was on the plane when it happened, so I have nothing to read out for you.

Q    Will the campaign focus on Virginia at all anymore?  I know Trump is in Southern Virginia.  Is that going to become a focus point —

MR. TYLER:  Yeah.

Q    — for the campaign?

MR. TYLER:  This campaign is focused on the path to 270 electoral votes and the tru- — and the battleground states.  I think that’s reflected in everything that we’re doing.  Today, we’re in North Carolina, we’re in Nevada.  I think that you’ve seen our path to victory, the states that we’re focused on that are actually going to decide the pathway to 270 electoral votes. 

Donald Trump can do — I know he talks about rallies in New York City, for example.  But h- — we’re not going to allow him and his nonsense to distract us from what we know the task at hand needs to be.  We’re going to remain disciplined and do the work to get to 270 electoral votes. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Thanks, everybody.

MR. TYLER:  All right, y’all.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thanks, Michael.

Q    Thank you.

MR. TYLER:  Thank you so much.  We will be doing this more often. 

Q    Really appreciate it.

Q    Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thank you, Michael.  Bye.

MR. TYLER:  Thanks, y’all.

Q    Appreciate it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thank you.

All right —

Q    Karine —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, that’s it.  Thanks, everybody.  (Laughter.)

I don’t know what to say.  What else can I say?  (Inaudible.)

Q    Can you tell us more about his cold?  When did he contract it?  What — did it affect his performance last night?

Q    Was he tested for COVID?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So — okay, step back for a second.  So, yes, and I think we shared this with many people yesterday.  The president had a cold; he had a sore throat.  That happens.  And — and that’s what you heard last night.  And, you know, I’ll — I’ll leave it there.  I don’t have anything else to add.  I think Michael covered a lot of this just moments ago. 

But, yes, he had a cold.  He had a sore throat.  Once he knew that he — he had a cold and a sore throat, he tested — he certainly tested for COVID.  It was negative.  And then we moved on from there.

Q    Why did the White House wait until the middle of the debate to release that information?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I’ll tell you this.  Look, he had a strong debate-prep week.  And — and he got a cold, which happens.  It happens.  It’s not unusual.  It’s not something — you know — I mean, you don’t share every time, you know, the president has a cold.  It happened.  And once — once he had the cold and had a sore throat, again, he tested negative for COVID.  And then we moved on.

Q    But just curious about the disclosure of that information.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, he got a — I mean, Tyler, he got a cold.  It — it happens.

Q    But just in terms of when — the sequencing, like instead of before the debate, in the middle of the debate —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  (Inaudible.)

Q    — how you decided —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Oh, well —

Q    — when to announce —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — obviously, during the debate, we were asked if the president has a cold.  We — we said — well, they would — we were asked about his hoarse voice.  We shared that he had a cold, we shared that he tested negative, and then we moved on.  That’s it.  It was from his — his voice as he was speaking during the debate, obviously.

Q    Were there plans to let the public know if you weren’t received — if you weren’t, you know, asked from —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, he —

Q    — asked about it?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — had a cold.  It happens.  He had a cold.

Q    Right.  But you were — you were — during the debate, that was the blame for why he wasn’t doing well.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  He had a hoarse voice, so people asked why he had a hoarse voice — because he had a cold.  And we also shared — we went a- — we went a step — we took a step further and shared that he tested for COVID and was negative. 

I mean, he had a cold.  (Laughs.)  That’s what it was.

Q    Have you talked to the president?  How is he feeling w- — did you talk to him last night?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  He —

Q    How he’s feeling —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, I’m not going to — I’m not going to disclose my private conversations with the president.  Obviously — obviously, I — I speak to him often. 

You saw him today.  You saw him — and I’m going to be super mindful.  Obviously, it was a camp- — it was a campaign event today.  But you saw him.  He — he spoke directly to the — to the American people.  You saw the crowd.  You saw what he laid out.  He li- — he laid out his vision for the future, what he’s done in the past three and a half years.  And that’s what I’ll stick to.

The other part, you can actually — obviously, you can speak — you can see for yourself.  But the president is a fighter.  He’s going to continue to fight for the American people, as he’s done the last three and a half years.  That doesn’t end.  That doesn’t stop.  And that’s what you’re h- — you’ll continue to hear from this president, as you saw today.

Q    Any reaction from him to the reaction to his performance last night?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, I think the president — and I said this yesterday — the president always took — takes an opportunity — when he’s in front of an audience, when he knows that millions of Americans are going to tune in to hear directly from him, he’s going to take that opportunity to lay that out. 

Yes, did he have a — a bit of a slow start?  You heard from the vice president last night, yes.  But as the time went on, he certainly made up some of that — right? — and mo- — mo- — probably faster than most would have and laid out his vision and was very clear about certain — certain parts of issues that the American people care about, whether it’s abortion, immigration, the things that you hear us talk about all the time, the contrast that we make with extreme Republicans and congressional members and what they’re trying to do on the other side. 

And so — and you certainly heard that from him today.  And so, look, the president is going to always take the opportunity, again, to be very clear, to be very concise about what he’s doing on behalf of the American people.  There’ll be many, many opportunities.  We move on.  And you’ll hear more from the president, obviously, later today.

Q    What — was it ins- — personally insulting to him to have all these fellow Democrats come out and say, “You need to step aside”?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, I’m not — you know, look, people are going to have their opinion.  I’m going to be very careful — right? — because this was a debate — the Hatch Act piece of that. 

We respect — we respect, you know, our fellow — our fellow Democrats — obviously, part of our party — and their opinion.  But you heard — you heard Michael talk about the folks who were on — on TV today and earlier — earlier this morning talk about the president and his performance and how he’s a president that we need today.  He’s a president that’s going to continue to lead the way on really critical, important issues that Americans care about, that — truly, that Americans care about.

This week alone, we — we marked the Dobbs anniversary — right? — two years of when the former president put three extreme — extreme members on the court — individuals on the court, and they overturned Roe v. Wade.  And look what it’s caused.  It caused chaos with IVS [IVF], contraception. 

And you have heard us — the president and the vice president continue to speak to that.  And we are with the majority of Americans, while, you know, extreme Republicans want to put national bans.

That’s what you’re going to continue to hear us fighting for: everyday Americans.  The economy — we understand how Americans are still feeling the pinch. 

But what the president has done this last three and a half years is work to get the economy back on its feet.  And we see that with unemployment under 4 percent.  We see the — the amount of — record amount of jobs that this president has — able to be created — more than 15 million jobs. 

And so, we’re going to — that’s going to be our focus.  Our focus is going to be how do we create, continue to provide that breathing room that you hear the president talk about for American people, fight for our freedom, fight for democracy.

And so, that’s — that is, I think, the contrast that you saw last night and what the president is going to do moving forward.

Q    Do you think the president does better or is more comfortable in moments that are scripted, like the rally earlier today, as opposed to the debate, when he has to think on his feet a bit more?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I mean, look, you — I’m just going to repeat what the president said today.  He understands. 

Look, he’s not as smooth as he used to be on the debate stage.  He doesn’t speak as smoothly as he used to be.  I mean, you heard him say and acknowledge — acknowledge where he is today.  And — and — but the thing that he ended with, which I think is so important, which I keep saying over and over to all of you, is he’s — he knows he’s going to fight for democracy.  He’s going to fight for freedom.  And he knows exactly how to do that. 

And you see it with his record in the last three and a half years.  I think the record that he has been able to do — whether it’s legislation — historic pieces of legislation to get things done — I think that speaks for itself.  And so, this is a president that’s going to continue to do that — continue to do that.

Q    Karine —

Q    The Supreme Court Chevron ruling that came out today.

So much of the administration, you know, agenda is on — is around climate change. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    How big of a setback do you think this might be for some of the policies that —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, you may have seen I issued a — a statement —

Q    Yeah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: — on this earlier, a respon- —

Q    (Inaudible.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

So, I’ll just say a little bit.  This is yet another troubling decision that takes our country backwards.  Republican-backed special interests have repeatedly turned to the Supreme Court to block common-sense rules that keep us safe, protect our health and environment, safeguard our financial system, and support American consumers and workers. 

The president has directed his legal team to work with Department of Justice and other agency counsel to review today’s decision carefully and ensure that our administration is doing everything we can to continue to deploy the extraordinary expertise of the federal workers to keep Americans safe and ensure our communities thrive and prosper.

Q    And what about the Supreme Court ruling about the Justice Department overstepping on charging hundreds of people for the —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.  So, that one, I’m going to be super mindful — I’m going to refer you to Department of Justice.  As you know, they’re ongoing cases.  So, I just got to be super careful on that.  That litigation continues.

Go ahead.

Q    Karine, the — three U.S. troops died in Jordan this year and more in Afghanistan in 2021.  How can the president say none have died during his administration?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, obviously, the president, as you know, is the commander in chief.  And you hear him even when he ends every — ev- — all of his remarks, he talks about respecting — respecting our — our troops who are serving today.  And he con- — he will always do that and continues to do that.  And he obviously had — his son was — was — obviously served, as well.  So, this is something that he respects.  And so, I don’t think — I don’t think that will ever change. 

Obviously, our hearts and our thoughts go out to the family who are pro- — clearly still suffering and thinking about their loved ones.  And so, we’ll continue to do that. 

And I — you know, I refer you to the campaign about specifics about fact-checking and all of those pieces.  But I can speak to a president that has been incredibly respectful of the military and what they do for us day in and day out and how they continue to serve our country. 

You saw th- — you saw that on display, obviously, on D-Day when he was in Normandy — he did that twice — and honoring those who have fallen.  And so, he’ll continue to do that. 

Any particular fact-check, I would certainly refer you to the campaign.

Q    Well, I understand that that was said during debate, so that we can — can refer to the campaign.  But he is the president.  This — these weren’t off-the-cuff remarks.  They felt prepared.  And it was clearly a mistake.  Does he not consider these to be —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Well, what I will say is the president respects our military force.  He respects the families who have lost members of the military.  He will continue to do that.  He has been very consistent about that — not just as president but as vice president, as senator.  You hear him talk about the service and how they put their lives on the — on the line every single day to protect us.  He t- — he always ends his remarks mentioning that, mentioning and lifting up our service members.  And that’s what I will speak to at this time. 

All right, guys.

Q    Thank you.

Q    Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thanks, everybody.  We’ll see you in New York.  All right.

3:28 P.M.  EDT