White House dodges on timeline for President Biden confronting China
White House dodges on when President Biden will confront Chinese President Xi Jinping
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was criticized Wednesday for her response to a question as to why President Biden has yet to invite the victims of the Nashville school shooting but have invited three Tennessee Democratic state lawmakers to D.C.
"So Monday, you're going to have three of the lawmakers who protested, who peacefully protested, after the Nashville Covenant School shooting. Have any of the victims or the victims' families been invited to the White House?" Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy asked during Wednesday's briefing.
"I don't have anything to read out to you about any invite," Jean-Pierre responded.
"Why?" Doocy followed-up.
"I just don't have anything at this time to read out to you about any invite. What I can say to you right now is that the President is focused on getting things done," Jean-Pierre responded.
Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, delivers remarks on the floor of the House chamber Thursday, April 6, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Tennessee Democratic State Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson will visit the White House next week as President Biden continues to push for gun control legislation like an assault weapons ban. The three Tennesseans faced expulsion from the GOP controlled chamber for their roles in leading a gun-control protests onto the floor of the state legislature in the aftermath of the shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville that killed six people, including three children. Jones and Pearson were expelled but shortly reinstated to their seats.
Since the protests, the three state lawmakers have been on a media tour such as visiting New York City to be on Good Morning America. Now, Jones, Pearson, and Johnson are set to appear with Biden in a call for gun-control legislation.
Critics called out the administration after Jean-Pierre's response that an invitation to the shooting victims and their families hasn't been extended.
James Hutton, an Iraq War veteran, tweeted "For the Biden WH it’s politics all the time no matter what. Bringing in loudmouth politicians instead of actual victims is yet another new low."
"Lionizing self aggrandizing fame-hungry politicians over the families who lost their babies. Brazen incompetence paired with total cravenness. How on brand for the Biden White House." Rachel Bovard, senior director of policy at the Conservative Partnership Institute wrote.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily press briefing at the White House on April 10, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also slammed the Biden administration.
"Absolutely disgusting that POTUS won't acknowledge or even care about cold-blooded murder of kids & staff of Christian school by a killer who was transgender," he tweeted.
"Why did Biden invite Ralph Yarl to the White House, but not the families of the Nashville shooting?" Tim Young, a conservative commentator, asked.
Anti-gun demonstrators protest at the Tennessee Capitol for stricter gun laws in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 3, 2023. - Students were encouraged by an anti-gun violence group to walk out of classrooms at 10:13 AM, the same time police say a transgender person entered The Covenant School beginning an attack in which three young children and three adults were killed last week at a private Christian school in Nashville. ((Photo by John Amis / AFP) (Photo by JOHN AMIS/AFP via Getty Images))
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Former George W. Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen chastised the Biden administration for what he considered Biden's "situational ethics" and condemned the fact the Nashville shooting victims' families have yet to be invited to the White House.
This is consistent for the White House because, remember, Kamala Harris went to Tennessee and met with the lawmakers but didn't meet with the families. So why would they meet with the families in Washington either?" he said.