Credibility crisis: Karine Jean-Pierre's defense of Biden's mental fitness over the years

The revelations about former President Joe Biden's declining health while he was in office have brought a new spotlight on what officials in his administration said at the time about the former president's health. 

One of the most outspoken officials defending Biden's mental and physical stamina was White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. 

She has been on record denying that the former president was experiencing cognitive decline or other health issues from as early as 2022. 

When then-CNN anchor Don Lemon asked Jean-Pierre if Biden would have the "stamina" necessary to complete a second term in June 2022, she appeared shocked at the question. 

"That is not a question that we should be even asking," she said before adding that reports of Biden’s declining cognitive faculties were "hearsay."

NEW BOOK REVEALS BIDEN'S INNER CIRCLE WORRIED ABOUT HIS AGE YEARS BEFORE BOTCHED DEBATE PERFORMANCE

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre becomes emotional as she speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on January 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

"Don, you're asking me this question. Oh my gosh. He's the President of the United States… just look at the work he does. And look how he's delivering for the American public," she said. 

Jean-Pierre called reports of Biden capping events as early as 10 a.m. because he was fatigued "ridiculous assumptions," in an August 2023 press conference. The following month, when questioned whether Biden’s staff "treats him like a baby" the press secretary pushed back.

"No one treats the President of the United States, the commander in chief, like a baby. That's ridiculous. It's a ridiculous claim," she responded. 

After Special Counsel Robert Hur declined to prosecute Biden for the alleged mishandling of classified documents last year, claiming that a jury would consider him to be a sympathetic "elderly man with a poor memory," Jean-Pierre said his assessment "does not live in reality."

"The reality is, that report, that part of the report does not live in reality. It just doesn't. It is gratuitous. It is unacceptable, and it does not live in reality," Pierre said at the time.

FLASHBACK: WHITE HOUSE PRESS SEC KARINE JEAN-PIERRE LAUGHS OFF QUESTION ON BIDEN'S HEALTH IN 2022

Jean-Pierre ridiculed reports of Biden capping events as early as 10 a.m. because he "felt tired." (AP/Evan Vucci)

CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson’s new book, "Original Sin," details disturbing accounts of the Biden White House’s inner workings, which show that the president's senior staffers were attempting to hide his alleged cognitive decline from the public and even his own Cabinet. 

The book reports that Cabinet secretaries were denied access to the then-president, his aides openly mused about whether he would need to be put in a wheelchair if he made it to a second term, Biden frequently forgot his staffers' names, and he did not even recognize famous supporter George Clooney when the two were face-to-face at a 2024 fundraiser.

She also dismissed videos of Biden appearing disoriented or frail as "cheap fakes" and insisted that they were based on "misinformation" in a June 2024 interview with MSNBC’s Nicole Wallace.

"It's also very insulting to the folks, the viewers who are watching it. And so we believe we have to call that out. We've been calling it ‘cheap fakes.’ That is something that came directly from the media outlets in calling it that, the fact-checkers and calling it that," Jean-Pierre said. She made similar remarks in the briefing room.

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After Biden's debate performance in June alarmed Democrats and started a pressure campaign to force him out of the 2024 race, Jean-Pierre remained steadfast at the podium. At one point, she said Biden was sharper than ever.

After he dropped out of the race last July, Jean-Pierre was pressed by Fox News' Peter Doocy on whether there was a White House "cover-up" of his health.

"First of all, there's been no cover-up," Jean-Pierre told Doocy, adding, "I want to be very clear about that."

Jean-Pierre didn't respond to a request for comment.