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Jean-Pierre does not even try to answer question when confronted over false claim that Biden visited the border: 'It was a brief drive-by'
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Jean-Pierre does not even try to answer question when confronted over false claim that Biden visited the border: 'It was a brief drive-by'

The White House falsely claimed Wednesday that President Joe Biden has visited the southern border, an assertion that was promptly fact-checked.

Biden, in fact, has never actually stopped to visit the border.

What did the WH claim?

At the press briefing, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre whether Biden would accept Republican leader Kevin McCarthy's invitation to visit the southern border, which remains in crisis.

"Has the president RSVPed?" Doocy asked. "We know the president has never been down to the border. The possible next speaker says that he wants him to go with him. So, is he going to?"

Jean-Pierre's response suggested that Biden does not need to accept McCarthy's invitation because, as she claimed, he has already visited the border. But Doocy quickly interjected to press for details.

"Look, he’s been there. He’s been to the border," she claimed.

"When did he go to the border?" Doocy interjected.

But instead of addressing her previous assertion, Jean-Pierre simply ignored Doocy's follow-up question and rehearsed talking points to defend Biden and attack Republicans.

"President Biden has been taking action to fix our immigration system and secure our border. And that’s why, on day one, he put forward immigration reform," she said.

"But we’re not seeing that from Republicans. We’re not seeing a willingness to work with us on fixing a situation that’s been around for decades now," she claimed. "Instead, they’re doing political stunts. That’s what they want to do. That’s how they want to take care of this situation."

11/30/22: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierreyoutu.be

But what is the truth?

As Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin fact-checked, Biden has not visited the border. Instead, he once drove past it while campaigning in 2008.

"This is not true. President Biden has never visited the border in his entire political career," Melugin pointed out. "He drove past the border in the El Paso, TX area while on the campaign trail in 2008."

Last year, the Washington Post investigated then-press secretary Jen Psaki's assertion that Biden had visited the border. The newspaper found no record of any visit.

The only record of a "visit," the Post found, came in October 2008 when Biden landed in El Paso and drove to a campaign event outside Las Cruces, New Mexico. The "drive took Biden along a route that for a few minutes hugs the border of the United States and Mexico," the Post explained.

"It turns out it was a brief drive-by — not the kind of sustained visit that his critics are demanding," the Post explained. "It’s almost like counting a refueling stop as a visit to a country."

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