In the Biden administration’s constant attempts to spin political narratives, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recently echoed the president’s claims regarding three illegal immigrants who died trying to cross the Rio Grande. She was later fact-checked by a reporter.
The Biden administration blamed Texas for the fatal incident, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accusing the Texas National Guard of barring Border Patrol agents from caring for illegal immigrants in distress.
Likewise, the White House claimed the unlawful migrants could still be alive today if Texas troops had never “blocked U.S. Border Patrol attempting to provide emergency assistance.”
Despite the Biden administration’s decision to play the blame game, a filing by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the U.S. Supreme Court revealed that the deceased illegal immigrants had drowned way before Border Patrol agents were notified of their deaths.
Considering that Texas authorities were not at fault for the deaths of the unlawful migrants, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked Jean-Pierre whether the White House would correct its statement blaming Texas for the incident.
“Will the administration amend its separate statement that implied that Texas officials were responsible for the deaths of those three migrants when, in fact, they had nothing to do with it?” Heinrich asked.
“They had already been dead for an hour by the time Mexico told anyone in the U.S. about it, and the administration admitted as much in their court filing,” Heinrich pointed out. “But the statement from the White House implies that Texas was responsible, and a number of outlets were forced to issue corrections and editor’s motes because of that White House statement.”
Jean-Pierre, visibly nervous, urged Heinrich to be “sensitive” because of the tragic incident. The White House press secretary had a difficult time addressing Heinrich’s questions.
“Our statement is consistent with the DOJ’s filing. As the DOJ filing said, there was an ongoing emergency situation that Border Patrol was blocked from accessing. There were other migrants in the water as well,” Jean-Pierre replied.
Heinrich then fact-checked Jean-Pierre, pointing out that such an “ongoing emergency situation was separate.”
TENSE: Karine Jean-Pierre starts to sweat when @JacquiHeinrich holds her feet to the fire over the administration's lies about Texas officials who — contrary to the White House's claims — were not responsible for the deaths of three illegal immigrants. pic.twitter.com/Yp4TZRCHMQ
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) January 17, 2024
The Fox News correspondent then quoted a previous statement made by Jean-Pierre, accusing Texas authorities of prohibiting Border Patrol from assisting unlawful migrants.
Jean-Pierre reiterated her claim that other illegal immigrants were in the Rio Grande, leading Heinrich to ask, “Then why wasn’t that included in the statement?”
Jean-Pierre concluded her exchange with Heinrich shortly after and referred any additional questions to the DOJ.
