As Twitchy reported Wednesday, there was a lot of spinning going on by both reporters and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to excuse President Joe Biden from searching for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski at a White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. Walorski was killed in a car accident in August, and the conference even included a video tribute to her.
"Jackie are you here? Where's Jackie?"
Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-IN) died in a car accident in August pic.twitter.com/cHc3b7zPmE
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) September 28, 2022
USA Today’s Jill Lawrence had an extra day to prepare her spin and decided that Biden’s embarrassing slip-up wasn’t the result of his age or his memory failing … it was a show of empathy that underscored a decency lacking in Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Yes, it’s about Trump.
What Joe Biden's memory lapse about the late Jackie Walorski really told us – USA TODAY https://t.co/d6dNIZQkcG
— Empress Rule (@EmpressRuler) September 29, 2022
Lawrence writes that “Joe Biden says presidents have ‘a duty to care’ for all Americans. Donald Trump never saw it that way and blamed blue states when tragedy struck.” USA Today lists among the piece’s key points: “After a Trump presidency that lacked empathy, let’s put this moment in perspective.”
Yet there’s another way to look at this: Biden was trying to credit the late Indiana Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski – a lawmaker who voted on Jan. 6, 2021, to object to his presidential victories in Arizona and Pennsylvania and who this March labeled his agenda “radical & reckless” – for her good work on nutrition and hunger.
It’s unfortunate that he made the mistake. At the same time, it demonstrated a generosity and professionalism that was also present in Biden’s Tuesday conversation with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a frequent and harsh Biden critic, as Hurricane Ian bore down on his state.
…
If you care about your country and your rights, don’t vote for any Republicans in 2022
The contrast with former President Donald Trump is glaring. If he intuited “a duty to care,” he conveyed that strangely by, for instance, throwing paper towels at a crowd of Puerto Ricans in 2017 after the island had been devastated by Hurricane Maria.
“It showed such a lack of empathy,” chef José Andrés told The Washington Post a year later. By then, he and his World Central Kitchen had served 3.6 million meals in Puerto Rico.
So Biden searching the crowd for a dead congresswoman actually showed empathy that Trump and DeSantis both lack, so don’t vote for Republicans. Lawrence also laughably takes at face value Biden’s claim that “I will govern as an American president. No red states, no blue states, just the United States.” Yeah, that’s what we got from his famous “Red Speech” too.
As Joe Biden might say, "C'mon man!" pic.twitter.com/XluFa7oe3R
— John Sexton (@verumserum) September 29, 2022
That reads, “Biden’s Walorski slip isn’t memory fail or age, but empathy. Joe Biden’s callout to Jackie Walorski, who died in August, was embarrassing. But it also underscored his decency.”
The actual story has a different headline probably because it doesn't claim Biden's memory isn't failing. It just claims it doesn't matter. pic.twitter.com/hp5fcc9z63
— John Sexton (@verumserum) September 29, 2022
It doesn't matter if Biden can't remember who is alive or dead so long as his intentions were good. pic.twitter.com/YBhkLiKE5G
— John Sexton (@verumserum) September 29, 2022
For god’s sake @usatodayDC – have you finally, no shame?
— susan price (@sbprice) September 29, 2022
I was told there would be no malarkey.
— Mark Gustav (@MarcusGustavus) September 29, 2022
Biden's slip wasn't nearly as embarrassing as USA Today's rationalization.
— Mark Cancellieri (@MarkCancellieri) September 29, 2022
Very true.
“Underscored his decency.”
The man won’t even acknowledge the existence of one of his own grandchildren.
— Mark Ashworth (@marklarflash) September 29, 2022
He doesn’t even count his newest grandchild when saying how many he has and left her off the mantlepiece at Christmas. And his son is still fighting over child support. But that’s another story that particularly burns up this editor — don’t get me started.
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Related:
‘Looking for Jackie’? Watch Joe Biden just wander away from podium during FEMA presser https://t.co/vKq2ly3GjN
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 29, 2022
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