Karine Jean-Pierre on Biden’s Debate Performance: ‘The President Had a Cold’

Reporter 1: “Can you tell us more about his cold? When did he contract it? What — did it affect his performance last night?”

Reporter 2: “Was he tested for Covid?”

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.”

Reporter 3: “Why did the White House wait until the middle of the debate to release that information?”

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.”

Reporter 3: “But just curious about the disclosure of that information.”

Jean-Pierre: “I mean, he got a — I mean, Tyler, he got a cold. It — it happens.”

Reporter 3: “But just in terms of when — the sequencing, like instead of before the debate, in the middle of the debate —“

Jean-Pierre: (Inaudible)

Reporter 3: “— how you decided —“

Jean-Pierre: “Oh, well —“

Reporter 3: “— when to announce —“

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.”

Reporter 4: “Were there plans to let the public know if you weren’t received — if you weren’t, you know, asked from —“

Jean-Pierre: “I mean, he —“

Reporter 4: “— asked about it?”

Jean-Pierre: “— had a cold. It happens. He had a cold.”

Reporter 5: “Right. But you were — you were — during the debate, that was the blame for why he wasn’t doing well.”

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.”