White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre swiftly dismissed Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy during a Tuesday briefing after he asked whether Vice President Kamala Harris had adopted a Southern accent in recent speeches.
Doocy claimed that Harris sounded noticeably different in her speeches delivered in Detroit and Pittsburgh, suggesting that her tone of voice had changed. “Since when does the Vice President have what sounds like a Southern accent?” Doocy asked, told HuffPost.
Jean-Pierre, appearing perplexed, responded, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Doocy pressed further, explaining that in Detroit, Harris spoke about unions using one tone, while in Pittsburgh, the same line was delivered with what he described as “some kind of a Southern drawl.”
Jean-Pierre appeared stunned by the nature of the question. “I mean, do you hear the question that you’re [asking]?” she asked in disbelief. “Do you think Americans seriously think that this is an important question?”
The press secretary then shifted the focus to issues she believes are more relevant to the public. “You know what they care about? They care about the economy. They care about lowering costs. They care about health care. That’s what Americans care about,” she stated firmly.
Despite Doocy’s attempt to continue the line of questioning, Jean-Pierre refused to engage, calling the inquiry “ridiculous” and “insane.” She explained, “I’m not even going to entertain some question about the… It’s just… Hearing it sounds so ridiculous. The question, I’m talking about the questions, is just insane.”
Undeterred, Doocy asked if Harris speaks the same way in meetings. At this point, Jean-Pierre ended the exchange. “Peter, we’re moving on. We’re so moving on,” she said decisively, refusing to entertain the subject further.
The brief but heated interaction between Jean-Pierre and Doocy highlighted the press secretary’s frustration with what she viewed as a trivial and irrelevant question, steering the conversation back to issues she deemed of greater importance to the American public.