Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

2:04 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hi, everybody. Good afternoon. Good afternoon.

Okay. I have a couple things at the top. Please bear with me.

So, on Saturday, a suspect shot and injured five individuals along Interstate 75 in Kentucky and is still at large. We're praying for those who were injured and wishing them a speedy recovery.

The president was briefed over the weekend, and he urges residents to remain vigilant and listen to local officials as they continue to investigate. The administration is in touch with state and local officials, and federal law enforcement is supporting the local investigation and efforts to apprehend the suspects.

Next, we are praying for the thousands of Americans under mandatory evacuations under orders out West. Senior administration officials are monitoring the fires, including the Line fire in California and the Davis fire in Nevada, and are in close touch with state and local leaders to ensure they have the resources they need.

Over 7,000 federal personnel are supporting local firefighting efforts across multiple states. Residents in the affected areas should remain vigilant and heed the warnings of local officials, especially those who have been ordered to evacuate.

President Biden and Vice President Harris believe that health care is a right, not a privilege, and that mental health care is health care, period. But for millions of Americans, care for mental health and substance use conditions is still hard to find and hard to afford.

Today, the Biden-Harris administration is taking a step forward, changing that by placing new requirements on health plans that will improve and strengthen access to mental health care for 175 million Americans with private health insurance.

For the president, it's simple. If you have a mental health crisis, you should be able to access the care that you need the same way you acc- - access care for a broken bone or a heart attack.

Addressing mental health crisis is a key priority for this president, for this administration. And the steps being taken today will dramatically expand access to mental health care in America.

And finally, later this afternoon, the president will - will be joined by elected officials and advocates to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act and mark Disability Pride Month.

One of the president's first acts - acts as a U.S. senator was cosponsoring the Rehabilitation Act, which banned discrimination on the basis of disability by any entity funded by the federal government and paved the way for the Americans with Disability Act.

Since taking office, President Biden and Vice President Harris have carried the same commitment to ensuring disabled Americans are treated with dignity, respect, and inclusion to live and thrive in their communities.

Under the president - under this administration, the Biden-Harris administration, Americans with disabilities have seen historic increases in employment and earnings, and the administration has taken significant steps to protect civil rights and promote full participation in society. And that work will continue.

With that, I will turn it over to my colleague, Admiral John Kirby, who is here to take some questions on the House Foreign Affairs Committee's report released yesterday on the Afghanistan withdrawal.

With that, Admiral.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, Karine.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Q Good afternoon.

MR. KIRBY: As you saw today, House Republicans released their investigation report into Afghanistan withdrawal. This comes, of course, two years after their first report, and this one says little or nothing new.

We've already issued comment about the one-sided, partisan nature of this report, so I'm not going to belabor that right now, but I do think a brief rundown of actual facts is important.

First, on the very day this administration took office, the Taliban was in the strongest position it had been in years, and the Afghan government the weakest.

The Trump administration cut a deal called the Doha Agreement that mandated a complete U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and, yes, that included Bagram Air Base by the end of May 2021. That deal also released 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison - 5,000 fighters.

In return, the Taliban agreed not to attack U.S. troops, which is a good thing because the former president reduced our presence in Afghanistan from about 14,000 down to 2,500.

As General Frank McKenzie, former commander of U.S. Central Command, said himself in testimony, the Doha - Doha deal had a, quote, "really pernicious effect," unquote, on the Afghan government and military.

As we saw, it demoralized them and it disenfranchised them. They knew right then and there that America was on its way out.

Indeed, in October of 2020, then-President Trump ordered his military to rush the exit from Afghanistan and have everybody leave by Christmas of that year.

President Biden, for his part, faced a stark choice when he came to office: abide by the flawed agreement and end America's longest war or blow up the deal, extend the war, and see a much smaller contingent of American troops back in combat with the Taliban.

He chose the former, and he was able to buy additional time to prepare for that withdrawal all the way into the summer, and we as a nation are safer for it.

Any and every discussion about what happened in Afghanistan has to start right there. Sadly, the report does not dwell on it.

Now, there's some other falsehoods - too many to mention, but a few do stand out, and I would like to tick them off if you don't mind.

One, there was, in fact, planning for evacuations - planning that started in the spring of 2021 and included all the requisite agencies. In fact, the Department of Defense pre-positioned military units in the region so that once a decision had been reached to evacuate, they would be poised to respond in a timely fashion.

Two, there was no fine-tuned assessment of how fast things would unfold in August of 2021. It all moved a lot faster than anyone anticipated. As the Taliban moved in, Afghan forces stopped fighting, and the Ghani government fled.

As then-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said, quote, "Nothing that I saw indicated a collapse of this army and this government in 11 days," end quote.

Two - or, I'm sorry, three, there was no point in securing Bagram Air Base for use during the evacuation. Doing so would not only have required thousands of additional U.S. troops but also would have required a dangerous trek by evacuees over Taliban-controlled territory, making the evacuation even more difficult to execute than it already was.

Four, there was no handover of U.S. equipment to the Taliban. That equipment had been provided to Afghan Security Forces, appropriately and with congressional approval, over the course of two decades of war. That equipment was left by those Afghan forces when they surrendered or stopped fighting.

And five, there was no deception, lying, or lack of transparency by this administration either during or after the withdrawal. We did the best we could every day to keep the American people informed of what was happening. We conducted our own after-action reports and shared those, too, with the public. And, as I mentioned, we cooperated extensively in this investigation and to contin- - and we continue to work with the War Commission.

Ending wars is more difficult than starting them. President Biden knew that; he acknowledged that. But it doesn't mean that the decision to end this one was wrong or that the withdrawal wasn't conducted as professionally and as bravely as was humanly possible given the circumstances.

It doesn't mean we don't grieve and mourn with the families of those whose lives were tragically taken during the withdrawal, especially at Abbey Gate on the 26th of August of that year.

And it doesn't mean that we don't still look with awe and admiration at the many thousands of men and women who waged this war over the course of 20 years - troops, diplomats, intelligence experts, contractors, and civilian employees from this and dozens of other nations. They accomplished the mission for which they were sent to Afghanistan. They helped make us a safer nation.

Sadly, 2,461 of them did not make it home. And many of those who did still struggle with the wounds of war, seen and unseen. As the president has said, we owe them and their families a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid.

But now that the war is over, our nation can better focus on other pressing national security interests around the world. We would do well in all this partisan rancor over the withdrawal to remember that.

I'll take some questions.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Go ahead, Selina.

Q Thanks, Admiral. It's been reported that Iran has sent short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine. Can you confirm that this transfer happened? And how concerning is this?

MR. KIRBY: I cannot confirm the reports that the transfer has happened.

But I would point you to what we have said in the past that - that any such provision of that kind of technology

would not only have a deleterious effect on the Ukrainians' ability to continue to defend themselves - and certainly on the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians - but could, depending on what the deal - how it's consummated, have - have equally deleterious effects on the Middle East.

An - an Iran that already has an improving ballistic-missile program, we - we could only assume, would - would want to stand to gain from some sort of partnership with Russia to improve their - their capabilities in the region. And, of course, given all their destabilizing activities, that's a dangerous outcome.

Q And is the White House prepared to increase pressure on Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire deal, potentially doing something similar as the United Kingdom in terms of withholding more weapons?

MR. KIRBY: I can't think of anything we haven't put more pressure on ourselves than to try to get this deal. And we still - I think I just drew on myself. I think - I think

we - we know how urgent this is, and we're working night and day to try to see if we can get a deal in place. Hamas is the main obstacle to this right now.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Danny.

Q Thanks, Karine. Thanks, Admiral. A couple of things.

Firstly, on Afghanistan. So, are you - would you argue that the withdrawal is a success? Or do you admit that there were failings involved in that?

MR. KIRBY: We have - I'd point you to the after-action report, where I think we've been very clear about the planning efforts and the execution of the - of the plan. No plan of any operation whatsoever ever goes exactly according to the dictates by which you laid it out.

Clearly, there were moments of great violence and there were moments of - of mission execution that didn't go exactly the way we wanted it to go. I mean, I'm not - nobody has walked away from that.

But in the main, we were able to get 120-some - 120,000-some-odd folks out of there safely with an airplane taking off about once every hour. And, again, we've laid it all out in our after-action report that the State Department did, that the Department of Defense did, that we did here.

Q And, sorry, just very briefly on - on the point about Keir Starmer's visit and - and Gaza. Is the president going to be pressing Prime Minister Starmer to perhaps reverse his decision on the arms sales? Or - or, conversely, might he be seeking some advice about m- - you know, about how, you know, the U.S. might do that and (inaudible) -

MR. KIRBY: We're looking forward to the visit. There's an awful lot to discuss. I think you can expect the prime minister and the president to talk about what's going on in Ukraine, let's talk about the Middle East, even in the Indo-Pacific.

This isn't about twisting arms or trying to change minds. The British government has made their determination about arms provisions to - to Israel. We respect that. That's for them to speak to.

This is about how we move together as principal allies and - and good friends on a range of foreign policy issues. And I think it's fair to say that - that as part of this meeting on Friday, it will focus heavily on an extended agenda of foreign policy issues - expanded agenda.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Ed.

Q Thanks, Karine. Admiral, there have been requests - or there have been signals from congressional Republicans they'd like to continue this investigation into what happened in Afghanistan. Has the White House received any more requests for people to testify? Would they entertain them?

MR. KIRBY: I'm not aware of any additional requests for more testimony.

Q Has anyone from the White House or the prior administration been invited to tomorrow's Gold Medal ceremony for the families of the 13 service members who died?

MR. KIRBY: There will be - there will be quite a few from the Department of Defense, both in terms of active-duty admirals and generals and civilian political appointees in high leadership positions that will be there.

Q And on the - going back to, sort of, accountability and - and after-action. Was anyone ever held accountable by the president directly for what happened with the withdrawal in Afghanistan? And, if not, remind the audience why not.

MR. KIRBY: We have all held ourselves accountable for the progress of the withdrawal across the administration. And it was a true interagency effort to get those 120,000 people out and to make sure we removed our diplomats and our military personnel safely.

As I said, Ed, not everything went according to plan. Nothing ever does. And we mourn the loss of - of those 13 lives at Abbey Gate every single day here. Their sacrifice doesn't - doesn't - is not forgotten.

But, again, we - we hold ourselves all accountable for that.

Q One other part of the world, because there's been some movement regarding Venezuela just in the last day. The opposition candidate, Edmundo González, is now in Spain seeking - or expected to be granted political asylum.

There's been a lot written reporting in the last few days about what the administration may or may not be trying to do to get Maduro to leave by the end of the year before his next term would begin, even though U.S. and others don't necessarily think he has.

What is the latest on what the U.S. is trying to do, and would they ever help González come back to Venezuela?

MR. KIRBY: I won't get into hypotheticals one way or another about Mr. González and what his future might - might be. He wouldn't have had to seek political asylum if he wasn't accused of trumped-up, ridiculous charges and - and forced in that manner to - to flee his own country.

What needs to happen next is Mr. Maduro needs to heed the call of the international community - and, quite frankly, the Venezuelan people - and release the data so that the whole world can see what the Venezuelan people - who they voted for and that their democratic aspirations are met.

We have, in the past - you've seen - levied sanctions against Mr. Maduro and his regime. I don't have any announcements today, but I can tell you we're constantly looking at what our options could be going forward, depending on the decisions that Maduro makes.

Q And does the White House anticipate any surge in illegal border crossings or attempts to do so because of the instability in Venezuela (inaudible)?

MR. KIRBY: Haven't seen that play out. I mean, obviously we're watching this as closely as we can. As you well know, the numbers at the southern border have reduced and reduced significantly in the past months. But have not seen any indications of the surge coming out of Venezuela.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Go ahead.

Q John, China said that they'll be holding joint naval air drills with Russia starting this month. What's the level of concern from the administration that these two countries are - are cooperating? Is this a sign of deepening cooperation?

MR. KIRBY: I think it is, sure. We've been watching this defense relationship grow and deepen over the last couple of years to include the - the exercise of their militaries in both the air, at sea, and even on the ground.

So, we'll watch it like we all - like we watch all exercises, but I don't - look, these are two nations that don't have a long history of working well together, certainly not militarily. These are two nations that don't necessarily fully trust one another in the region or beyond, arou- - around the world.

So, I see no reason for us to change our own military posture or deterrent posture as a result of this exercise. This is a long-planned exercise. It's a part of their - their regimen. So, we'll watch it and - and monitor, but - but there's no - you know, there's no dramatic, imminent concern about it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Just a couple more. Go ahead.

Q Thank you, John. Firstly, on China. There are a raft of bills up for a vote in Congress this week that have to do with keeping China from accessing the Inflation Reduction Act funding, that limit their EV market, that try to counter their influence on culture.

Are these things that the administration supports, and do we expect to see these carried through in - in the Harris administration?

MR. KIRBY: Let's see where it goes. I don't talk - I don't like to talk about draft legislation one way or the other.

Q Okay. Well, let's talk about Afghanistan, then. Chairman McCaul drew a direct line and countered something you just said, which is he said, "They helped make us a safer nation." He believes that the withdrawal from Afghanistan -

(A reporter swats an insect in the room.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Inaudible), Jacqui. (Laughs.)

Q Do you need a minute?

He argues that the withdrawal from Afghanistan has, in fact, made the United States more susceptible to terrorism because of those prisoners released from Bagram.

What can you say to the American people to assure them that this administration is trying to keep them safe? And how safe are they?

MR. KIRBY: Well, just go on CENTCOM's website; look at the press releases that they send every time they take out a leader of ISIS or an al Qaeda leader.

We have proven the case about over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability to a fare-thee-well. Now that doesn't mean we're sitting back, resting fat, dumb, and happy. That's the kind of capability you have to keep working at and keep trying to improve. And we are.

I think it's also important to look at what else is going around the world. You know who - who would have loved for us to be stuck in Afghanistan for another 20 years is President Putin, President Xi. They would have loved that. But now, because we're not in a ground war in Afghanistan - a ground war for which the original mission had long since been accomplished - we're able to focus on those more - those more modern and relevant threats to our national security posed by - by nation-states and non-nation-states around the world.

But as for counterterrorism capability, again, we have proven time and time again that we are able to monitor the threat and deal with the threat - sometimes in near real time, if need be. Not taking it for granted, not saying we don't always have to keep sharpening it, but, believe me, we're focused on it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Just a couple more. Go ahead.

Q Administration officials have said that after the six hostages were killed earlier this month that Hamas changed the terms of the deal. Did Hamas explicitly tell mediators that there are new terms, that they want more prisoners released? And would you still characterize negotiations as on the verge of a ceasefire and hostage deal?

MR. KIRBY: To your first question, yes, Hamas did change some of the terms of - of the exchange, and that has made it more difficult for us to get there.

I'm sorry. And your second question was?

Q Would you still characterize the deal as "on the verge"?

MR. KIRBY: We still believe that, even for the - the new amendments that Hamas has made, that - that it's still worth an effort to try to see if we can't get back into a ceasefire negotiation. But we're not there right now.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Kelly.

Q Sir, there's a report that the president is convening his national security team on this issue today. Obviously, it's not on his public schedule. Is there anything more you can say about who he's bringing in or what he's doing, or is this part of the ongoing conversation?

MR. KIRBY: I think that was a little bit of a - a miscommunication, Kelly. What - what was being referred to was his normal presidential daily briefing, where he's presented with the intelligence of the day and has a chance to speak to some members of his national security team when he does that. It was not a major NSC meeting.

Q Thanks, John. The American citizen killed in the West Bank on Friday, Aysenur Eygi. Has the president had a chance to speak to her family at all? And do you have any sense of where the investigation stands? I know that you all had asked for the ball to get rolling on an investigation into her death. Do you know if there are any updates on that?

MR. KIRBY: He has not spoken to the family as of yet. I don't have a call to s- - to talk about today. Obviously, we continue to mourn with - with her family, of course.

The Israelis have reached out, made sure that we knew that they were promptly investigating this. As I understand it, from just before I came out here, they are moving swiftly on this investigation and will soon, we think, in coming days, be able to present their - their findings and conclusions. We'll obviously withhold our judgment until we see that. We've called for a complete, thorough, swift, and transparent investigation. We'll - we'll see - we'll see what they learn.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. Final question. Go ahead.

Q Oh. Hi. Thank you. Do you have any response to Russian drones violating NATO member states Latvia and Romania over the weekend?

MR. KIRBY: I think you talk about reports that parts of drones, I think -

Q Parts.

MR. KIRBY: - have landed in Allied territory, if you will. This is, unfortunately, not a new development, as it happened over the course of the war in Ukraine where missile fragments or drone fragments sometimes get caught up in the combat and the air combat and land in a neighboring nation.

We watch that closely, as you might imagine. We're in close touch with our Allies and partners about that. But - but it's just - it just underscores the - the danger that Mr. Putin's war in Ukraine has now caused to the whole European continent and the fact that the security landscape has changed - not is changing, not will change, but actually has changed - which is why we're doing everything we can to make sure Ukraine can defend itself.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right. Thank you so much, Admiral.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you.

Q Thanks, John.

MR. KIRBY: Thank you, guys.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Okay. All right.

Hi, Chris. It's been a while. It actually has been a while. Right?

Q It actually has been.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: All right.

Q Question, first, on the war in Gaza.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q The UN secretary-general said the UN was willing to monitor any ceasefire deal. Is that something the White House is interested in, perhaps taking them up on that offer?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Say that one more time.

Q The UN secretary-general said -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh.

Q - the UN would monitor any ceasefire deal. Is the White House interested in taking them up on that offer?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, as you know, there is - and the admiral just spoke to this as well - we're continuing to have those conversations. We continue to want to make sure - right? - that we get these hostages home. We want to make sure that we have an end to this war. That's what the president has said.

And so, we are pursuing, certainly, all efforts - this is something that the president said - to secure a deal that would release, again, the hostages that are being held by Hamas.

We cannot forget that the murder of the six hostages by Hamas and - has actually put us in a place where this is incredibly - even - the urgency is even more clear, right? And the new demands they've made have called into questions - right? - Hamas's readiness to do any deal at all and the sincerity of the negotiations. And that's what we see.

So, even so, even though we're hearing that, we want to continue to - to talk about the next steps with our co-mediators - this is Egypt and Qatar - and that's what we're doing. That's the focus.

That's what the president believes. In order - the pa- - the best path forward is to get this hostage deal, and that's what the president wants to see.

Q The vice president is preparing for a debate tomorrow night with Donald Trump. Has the president spoken to the vice president about the upcoming debate? And also, is he planning to watch it tomorrow night?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I can say - and I think I - I confirmed this last week in either a gaggle or at the briefing - which is that the president is going to watch the debate. He's looking forward to watching the debate.

As - I'm not going to preview or - or confirm any conversations between the president and the vice president. As you know, they speak often.

The president is incredibly proud of the vice president. I just don't have anything to share beyond that. But he will be watching. We'll be watching in - in New York tomorrow.

Q Yeah, but is he wa- - what is he watching for? I mean -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Oh, I'm - I'm not going to get into - into details. But he'll be watching. He'll be, obviously, supporting the vice president in her debate. I just don't have anything else to add to that.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Q Thank you. Can you confirm reports that the president is hoping to establish a U.S. sovereign wealth fund? And do you have any estimated time of announcement for that?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I don't have - certainly don't have anything to - to announce from - from here. But, look, the president has worked to unlock investments here at home and abroad that benefit our economic - our economy - right? - the economy and also our national security. That is something that the president has worked to do for - in the past three and a half years.

I just don't have anything to announce at this time.

Go ahead.

Q Thank you. With Congress back today, can you just give us the broad White House view on the state of government funding negotiations? And obviously, you issued the veto threat on the House Republicans' proposal, but with that dead on arrival in the Senate -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, a couple of things. I think the SAP - I think the SAP went out, so certainly would - would

direct you to that - that came out of the - this administration.

But with the end of the fiscal year rapidly approaching, obviously, by the end of this - of this month in September, Congress needs to pass a short-term continuing resolution to provide more time to pass full-year funding bills.

We urge Congress to do this quickly - to pass this quickly - to keep the government open. It is really easy. It's like their number one job. They know how to do this, to keep the government open, and provide that emergency funding for disaster needs - I just talked about that at the top, about the needs that we're - we're having just right now out West - as they have done on a bipartisan basis.

They've done this before many times in the past. They need to get this done.

The proposal from House Republicans is not a solution. It's just not. It contains a partisan poison bill [pill], would erode our national defense, undermine our competition with China, fail our veterans and seniors, abandon communities struck by disasters, and hurt programs that support small businesses while making healthy [wealthy] tax cheats pay what they owe.

So, House Republicans should stop wasting time - I've said this many times before - repeated at this podium - and to do their jobs for the American people by keeping the government open. It is a simple job. It's their number-one job as Congress is to keep the government open. And we believe it should be with a short-term CR.

Go ahead, Selina.

Q On that point about government funding. How is the White House engaging with the Hill on this? And does the president have any plans to meet with congressional leaders in the coming days?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I'll take your - the first question. OMB, Leg Affairs Office are in close touch with House and Senate leadership on the need to pass a short-term CR to keep the government open. And I laid out what it would do if we didn't and what it would erode - example, for our national security, as we - we just had the National Security Council rep here.

We're coordinating with Democratic leadership on the best path forward for a short-term CR. And so, this is something that, again, they need to do right away. They - they've done it before - many times before in a bipartisan way. It is their number-one job. Again, OMB and our Leg Affairs Office.

And to your second question, the president speaks regularly with congressional leaders and gets updated regularly as well from his staff. And Congress knows how to do this. They do. They know how to do this. This is the most basic thing - most basic part of their job is to keep the government open. So, they know this.

They don't need to hear from the - from the president on this directly. They know this. They know this, and they can do it in a bipartisan way, as they have in the past.

Q And on the debate. When's the last time that President Biden spoke to Vice President Harris? And do they plan to speak again before she takes this stage tomorrow night? And just anything you could share about the advice or words of encouragement -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.)

Q - or just what those conversations have been like?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm not going to - I'm not going to detail any private conversation that the president and the vice president has, whether it's debate or not debate. That's not something that I'm going to do at all. But I don't - and I don't have a readout of the last conversation that they've had.

What I can say is that he'll be watching. He supports, obviously, the vice president; is very proud of her.

And I just don't have anything else to add.

Q And will the president be watching with staff or his family tomorrow night?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: The president will definitely be watching. I know I will. I know you all will. I don't have anything beyond that.

Go ahead, Jacqui.

Q Thank you, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sure.

Q Thirty-one percent of -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good job on -

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Laughs.)

Q It had wings, and now it's dead. (Laughter.)

Thirty-one percent of -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: (Inaudible.) (Laughs.)

Q I killed a bug, and you're welcome.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It was very dr- -

Q Anyway.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: It was very dramatic. (Laughs.)

Q Someone had to do it.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I know, and the job was done. The job was indeed done.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You got the job done, for sure.

Q Thank you.

Thirty-one percent of registered voters said in a New York Times/Siena poll that they still need to learn more about Vice President Harris. So, why is she spending so much time trying to define Trump and link him to Project 2025 rather than define herself?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, those questions - obviously, those are campaign questions. You would have to ask the campaign and that is for them to speak to.

And what I will say is - what I can say is that as far as contrast, the contrast can't be more clear - couldn't be more clear. If you think about four years ago, America was reeling. It was reeling in a once-in-a-generation pandemic. It was isolated from the world stor- - stage. Crime was up. The middle class was sidelined. We saw an insurrection - an insurrection on January 6th in 2021 that the former president led.

And so - and you think about today - where we are today: Three and a half years later, we have - we're leading the strongest economy in the world. You hear the comeback stories in places like Milwaukee to Dayton to Scranton, Pennsylvania. And so, we are - we have done what people said we couldn't do, which is turn the economy around, turn the country around, be a leader on the world stage.

And I think it's important for Americans to know and to be reminded where we were and where we are.

And look - and the president certainly agrees with her. He agrees with her - you know, her - her leadership, her policy decisions. He agrees with her when it comes to making sure that - you know, we need to make sure that we stop what MAGA- - MA- - MAGAnomics, right? When you think about the $4,000 ta- - tax and - tax hike on working Americans.

You mentioned Project 2025. That's something Republicans support. Is a radical - radical idea - a rag- - radical policy agenda that's going to - that's going to do more harm to the American people -

Q Trump has - Trump has repeatedly disavowed it, distanced himself from it. I mean, you -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And I said Republicans. That's something that Republicans support.

Q So, this is not anymore being cast as something that Trump embraces? Let me just get that straight.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, look, you're - you - you asked me a couple things. You asked me about the contrast, why she continues to make the contrast. You have to talk to the campaign on what - on her strategy and how they're moving forward.

I laid out for you the contrast could not be more clear: where we were when we walked into this administration - when the president walked in to the administration; where we are today. And that's because of this leadership of this administration, the Biden-Harris administration.

Project '25 is something that Republicans - not going to speak to the president - the former president on this, but that Republicans are pushing. It's a radical idea.

We're talking about more radical abortion bans, cuts to law enforcement, cuts to education, repealing Affordable Care Act, re- - and repealing the Inflation Reduction Act, which, by the way, beats Big Pharma, which is something that - that many elected officials tried to do and couldn't get done. The Biden-Harris administration tried to get it done.

That's what I can speak to, and that's just a reality. That's what's in that agenda. That's what Republicans are pushing. And that's what I can lay out for you.

Q Well, I know you'll refer us to the campaign, but the campaign is not holding regular briefings. They don't have a forum - a Q&A forum like we have here.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, then, talk to them about that.

Q And you're the spokesperson for the Biden-Harris administration.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I can't - I literally just - I just answered your question -

Q Okay.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: - on why the contrast couldn't be more clear.

Q I have one more.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I just answered your question about Project '25 and what it's trying to do and what Republicans are supporting. I just laid that out.

Q I don't think it was the question I asked, but I do appreciate the answer. But -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, you asked me - you asked me why the - the vice president's campaign - the Harris campaign -

Q Yeah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: - is not doing X, Y, and Z.

I said to you, you've got to - you've got to talk to the - the vice president's campaign. And that is - there's the Hatch Act. I've got to be mindful to that.

Q I understand.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You know that.

Q I understand.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: That is - I can't answer that question, but -

Q How about I try one different way?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: But I can talk to contrasts. You asked me about contrasts, and I just laid it out.

Q Thank you. I appreciate that.

Does President Biden define Vice President Harris as a progressive Democrat?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, the vice president has been a critical partner - a critical partner to this president. All you've got to do is look at the record and what we have been able to do in the past three and a half years - the Biden-Harris administration has been able to do. You think about the economy, you think about health care, and you think about these really important, generation-changing legislation that are now laws, obviously.

I just talked about beating Big Pharma. That's important. That was the Inflation Reduction Act that only Democrats voted for. Now Republicans want to repeal. They want to take that away - take that away - taking away lowering costs for the American people. And so - to be clear, lowering costs on medical care and - and pharmaceutical drugs and also energy bills, right? That's two really big part of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The president - the president is not going to be labeling the vice president. She has her policies that she - obviously that he's in line with that they - that she has put forth in the past week or so. He supports her. He believes in her leadership. And that's what I can share with you.

Q So, we are allowing for a contrast with Trump but not a contrast with other Democrats? Because Senator Bernie Sanders, for instance -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - said that he still views her as a progressive Democrat. He said she's, in fact, not abandoning her ideals but making a pragmatic play toward the center to win the election.

And that sends a chill down the spine of some people who might be in the middle or to the center-right -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - considering her and when she's been trying to position herself -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - as a more moderate figure now than she was in 2020.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Where - where does she stand exactly?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, first of all, the senator is going to speak for himself. That's for him to speak to. I'm not going to get into a "I agree or disagree with him."

What I can tell you is this president believes in her leadership and believes in her bold policy agenda. That is something that the president is in line with her on, right? And we're talking about strengthening the middle class. That's what we believe her pol- - her bold policy agenda continues to do, and that's important.

You hear the president talking about building a - building the economy from the bottom up, middle out, and strengthening the middle class. We're in line. More oc- - economic opportunity - the president wants to see that.

And we're thinking - we're talking about the tax cuts for working people, fighting corporate pricing gag- - gouging, lowering costs, having the wealthy pay their fair share. We're in line. We're in line with - with what the vice president is putting forth: her bold policy agenda to make sure that we do not leave people behind.

I'm not going to stand here and label the vice president. The senator has every right to say whatever he wants to say. What I can say is the president agrees with her bold policy an- - agenda and - and her leadership.

Go ahead.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Wait - wait, did I just - didn't I just call on you?

Okay. Let me just try and get other people. (Laughs.)

Go ahead, Gerren.

Q Thanks, Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Gerren.

Q The Congressional Black Caucus today released its Corporate Accountability Report on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that asks corporate organizations to reaffirm their commitments to DEI, update on racial equity investments, and work with the CBC to create legislative solutions that will help close the racial wealth gap. Does the admin- - administration have a reaction to this report? Have they engaged with the CBC or advised them about this report at all?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, it just came out. We hadn't had a chance to review the report. But you know this is something that this p- - this administration believes: how diversity is our strength. You hear the president say this, and that is something that the president believes. And that is true whether it's in schools, our military, our businesses. It is important.

And it is true for our government, where he has assembled the most diverse presidential administration in history. That is something that this president and this vice president has done.

And just a couple of things. In June, when senior White House officials - they were able to welcome business executive and civil rights leaders to the White House for a dis- - a discussion on ensuring how Americans have access to economic opportunities. That wasn't that long ago, just a couple of months ago. And at that event, business leaders joined civil rights leaders and congressional staff to share best practices and actions that will protect and create pathways to opportunities.

So, this is an administration that understands that it is important to not leave any communities behind. And I think what we've been able to show these three and a half years: how those communities who have felt behind, like they were left behind, are now included in the process. They're included in our policies. They're included in our legislation. They're included in how we move forward, even in executive actions, right?

And this is a president that takes that very seriously. He also believes it's important to have those different voices at the table, hence having a very diverse - the most diverse administration.

And so, while we haven't - we haven't gone through the study, what we can say: We believe diversity is indeed our strength. It is important to continue to do that work, and that's what you're going to see from this administration.

Q And one other topic. CBC is also, as you know, hosting their Annual Legislative Conference this week, and the president is hosting a Black Excellence brunch on Friday.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q Was that intentionally planned for this week with CBC? And was this event - was - what can you share about the president's remarks that he will be giving?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah. So, not going to get ahead of his remarks. The president is looking very much forward to holding that brunch here, the Black Excellence brunch here on the South Lawn on Friday, as you just said.

But I - I could share a little bit, just more broadly. You can expect the president to speak about the enormous contribution that Black Americans have made to this nation - you've heard the president say that before as well - and - and continuing our efforts, as I just stated moments ago, about making sure that there are opportunities for all Americans - for all Americans, including Black Americans.

So, that is something that the president certainly, I think, will touch on, and he - you'll cer- - you will hear more from him on Friday.

Q Is the president or vice president attending the Phoenix Awards and giving remarks this year -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We'll have more to share -

Q - like they did in previous years?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: - in a couple of days. We'll have more to share.

Go ahead, sir.

Q (Inaudible) one on ADA.

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

Q Yeah. On mental health parity. Enforcement has long been an issue, and, you know, many plans haven't complied with requirements over the years. Does the administration plan - plan to be more aggressive in terms of enforcement going forward on this?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, anything that might be the legalities of it, I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals. It's obviously an issue that's very important to us. It's a great step forward when you - when we talk about the mental health parity. And it is. It's a parity, right? Health care - mental health should be health care.

And so, we're going to certainly continue to - to make sure that effort is a key part of this administration in the next four or five months.

Any legal stuff, I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals or anything like that. But this will continue to be a priority that I can continue to be very clear on.

Go ahead, Kelly O.

Q How would you describe the way in which, in briefings and in other White House communications since July 21st, you reference the vice president more? We hear now more "Biden-Harris administration," when, if we look back, it would have been much more focused on just the president. So, as you do that, how do you describe the importance of, you know, in this official way -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - talking about her and - and linking her to the accomplishments?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I think it is important for Americans to know that the vice president has played a very big role in the success of this administration over the last three and a half years. And we have said this before, even before July 21st, how much of a partner she's been - a critical partner. It is not the first time that we've said it. Maybe we're saying it more, to your point.

But we've been pretty consistent in saying that their partnership is important and how - how she has had even a critical role, if you think about some of these historic pieces of legislation, where she was the - you know, she was that vote - the vote that she made in the Senate - helped pass that legislation and turn it into law - the Inflation Reduction Act, for example.

And so, you know, I - I think it is important to note how much of a key partner that she's been, and that's something that the president wants us to do. He wants us to - to make clear to the American people that Vice President Harris has been here from day one, obviously, and has had a - a leadership role and will continue to do that.

Q And do you see that as a part of her introducing herself to the country, which is something her campaign has talked about -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - but, again, in this official lane -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, I get the official lane. Look, I - I don't want to get into murky - murky waters here by - by getting into her s- - her own strategy. That is certainly something for - for her to speak to. But we want to make sure that people understand, the American people understand that this continues to be a partnership. This is a partnership. And we've said that before. We've said that throughout the last three and a half years.

And - and, you know, the president respects her leadership. He respects her bold policy ideas, as I was speaking to Jacqui about back and forth moments ago. And he supports that. And - and I think it's important for the American people to be very - understand that, to be very clear. And that's one thing that we want to be very clear about from here.

Go ahead, in the back.

Q The Office of Management and Budget has asked federal agencies to start thinking about the transition, that regardless of where we are in a couple months -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - and who wins, there's going to be some kind of transition. How are you all thinking about that? How is the president thinking about that - especially given I know at the beginning of this administration, a frequent refrain from your office was, "We didn't have a lot of help during the transition from" -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - "agencies within the government, people within the government." How are you all thinking about what you want that to look like?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, let me just state this first so that folks who are watching understand, because I know you all understand this. What is happening right now is common. It is not unusual. It is something that every administration at this point, who are clearly coming to the end of their administration, have to do. So, it's a - a common process, nothing - nothing unusual there.

I'm sure we will have more to share, to your question. But, you know, the president - look, when it comes to the job that he has had for the, you know, last three and a half years, almost four years, he takes that very seriously.

He takes everything that he does, everything that comes out of this administration, very seriously because it's about the American people; it's not about him. And in order to have a - a successful government, he has to have that leadership to make sure it's a successful government, right? It doesn't matter for him or whoever is next.

So, I'm certain we'll have more to share. But, again, it's not unusual. The president - president is always going to do what's right for the American people, and this is part of that.

Q The last transition was - you're talking about how it's not unusual for government to start thinking about that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q But the last transition was anything but usual.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, I agree with you. I'm not disagreeing.

Q (Laughs.) Not disputed.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: But that's not going to be th- - what this president does.

Q Has he given any specific guidance? Has your colleagues begun thinking about how you want to make it different? I mean -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - four years ago -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We're -

Q - was not normal -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We're - we're -

Q - for a lot reasons.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You are exactly right. I'm not disagreeing with you. And we do not want to go back there. Right? We do not want that. We do not want to repeat what we saw the last time around in the last administration. It's not - it should not be about someone's personal agenda. It should be about the American people.

And I think if you've seen anything, especially these last pa- - past couple of months from this president, is that he cares. He puts the American people first. And that's how - in your question, that's what he's going to do. He's going to do what's right for the American people and how do we move forward in the way that we put them first. That's the best that I can answer that for you.

Go ahead.

Q Thank you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No - no problem.

Q Hi, Karine. Good to see you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Good to see you.

Q I'm wondering what the White House makes of former President Trump's comments over the weekend, saying, "When I win, those people who cheated" in elections in 2020 and 2024 "will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." Have you seen those comments? Has the president seen those comments? And what do you make of them?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I can say I have not spoken to the president about those types of comments. And, look - and I want to be careful because obviously he's saying it as - in his campaign capacity. But those - that type of rhetoric is dangerous. This is not who we are as a country. This is a democracy. And - and so, that's what the president believes. That type of rhetori- - rhetoric is - coming from, you know, a former president is dangerous.

I mean, we saw what happened on January 6 in 2021. Two thousand people went to the Capitol. You all - some of your colleagues reported on this. Some of your colleagues were there. Law enforcement members were attacked.

It was a dark day in our country because our democracy was attacked. And they went there because they were told that they should overturn an election - a free and fair election where dozens - dozens of Republican judges said that it was indeed a free and fair election.

And so, that type of rhetoric is dangerous and unacceptable, and that is not what this president believes.

Q Just a quick question -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, sure.

Q - on voters, in particular. As the president makes some outreach to Black lawmakers, I wonder if he's going to make some outreach to Black voters. Specifically, th- - the campaigns - both campaigns are working to do that in states like Georgia -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.

Q - and perhaps some of that economic message is getting lost with some Black voters. If you talk to them, they have a different picture of the Trump economy than they do the Biden economy, so to speak. How is the president and the vice president going to talk directly to Black voters about the economic issues at hand?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I got to be careful, because you're asking me about -

Q Sure.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: - a strategic play, a campaign play, when you're saying voters - Black voters, in particular, in your question here. So, you would have to ask the campaign specifically on how they're going to do that, what their outreach are going to - is going to be -

Q But in terms of the record and (inaudible) -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: And I - and I hear the question. So, I just want to - I just have to be really clear.

Q Sure.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: We respect Hatch Act. We respect the law here. So, I can't speak to a strategy here.

But it is - what you have seen this president, this administration do - cabinet secretaries, this president, obviously, the vice president in her official ca- - capacity - is that we try to go out there, right? We go out there. We meet the American people where they are. We talk about what this - what we have done in this administration over three and a half years. We talk about how we've been able to rebuild the economy. We talk about how we're leading the economy in - in the world - right? - the strongest economy in the world.

And it is not done by accident. It was not by accident, right? It is because the president - and Democrats in Congress, when we think about the American Rescue Plan, which helped turn things around, put checks in pockets - right? - were able to do that - put shots in arms - right? - so we can deal with a once-in-a-generation pandemic. It was not easy, but we were able to get this done.

Now, do we understand that some Americans are not feeling that? Yeah, we get that. We understand. That's why the president is going to continue to talk about ways to lower cost.

You saw the president and the vice president recently, a couple of weeks ago - or just last week - no - no, a couple weeks ago - talk about how - you know, the drugs that are going to be lowered in cost because they were able to beat Big Pharma. And so, now Medicare is able to do those negot- - that matters. That matters to Americans. So, we're just going to have to continue to talk about it, let Americans know.

I can't speak to the campaign strategy. That's something that they'll - they'll speak to. But the president believes it's also his job to communicate directly with the American people and to let them know what we're doing: the economy, health care, climate change, even on the - on the world stage and how we're being - and our leadership and how we're leading in that way.

And so, you know, it's continued. We're going to continue to do that, be out there.

Go ahead.

Q Recently, the U.S. identified the first case of H5N1 in a person that had no known animal contact. And I wonder if that changes the posture of the White House's pandemic office, or if there's any updates as to how the administration is tackling this outbreak.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, we take all of this very, very seriously. So, what we're going to continue to do is continue to monitor and help states where it's needed - right? - assist - assist where it's needed.

I don't have an update for you, but obviously our number one priority when it comes to the pandemic office and also other - other White House offices and what we're trying to do here is we want to make sure that American people feel safe in communities out there. And so, we're going to monitor it.

I don't have an update for you at - here at this time. But we take this very, very seriously.

I think we're going to start wrapping up.

Go ahead.

AIDE: Time for (inaudible).

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Go ahead, Ed.

I know.

Q Thanks, Karine. I want to ask you about jobs. So, the Biden-Harris administration -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Sorry. (Laughs.)

Q Yeah. (Laughs.) The Biden-Harris administration has been touting manufacturing jobs -

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah, yeah.

Q - for the pa- - for past year. But the last jobs report showed that manufacturing lost 24,000 jobs. And the trend over the past three months has been a loss of 11,000 jobs per month on average in manufacturing. So, why is it going the wrong direction?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, we pay attention, obviously, to all these reports.

What we - what we also want to do - yes, we pay attention to reports, we pay attention to data, but we also want to make sure it's taken into context. And so, we can't lose that as well.

A couple of things. You know, manufat- - manufacturing investment has hit all-time highs for six consecutive quarters. That's important. Factory construction has more than doubled to an all-time high. And it - also, it takes time for factories to build and - to be built and, also, manufacturing jobs to be created.

And so, what we - what we created - but we've created over 1.6 million jobs in manufacturing and construction. So, you've got to put this all into context.

And we've seen businesses invest more than $900 billion in manufacturing and clean energy. And a - one analyst said, and I quote them, "After years of inaction, America is now building factories at a rapid rate." And that is because of what we've been doing, which is investing in America.

And there's always more work to be done, and that's one - something that you can see from this administration.

Q So - so, you need more time? Is there a time frame as to when those jobs would materialize?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Loo- - I - I don't have a time frame for you. But what I can say is we got to take them all into context, right? We do.

Like, data is important; we pay attention to reports. But we can't miss what we've seen the last six months - right? - consecutive six months as well. We can't discount the investment that this administration has been able to make into manufacturing, right? We can't discount the 1.6 million jobs that have been created. That is important.

The $900 billion in investment - we can't discount any of that, right? That has to be put into the context as we're looking at that - this particular question that you're asking me about manufacturing jobs.

All right, everybody. Thank you so much.

(Cross-talk.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you so much.

2:58 P.M. EDT

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