White House will answer questions on camera for the first time since debate

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will address the briefing room Tuesday for the first time since President Biden’s rocky debate performance.

In the aftermath of Thursday’s debate in Atlanta, Jean-Pierre did hold a press gaggle aboard Air Force One while en route to Queens, New York, on Friday, but Tuesday will be the first time she returns to the White House briefing room to field questions on camera. Biden returned to the White House Monday night after gathering with family at Camp David in Maryland over the weekend.

During the press gaggle with Jean-Pierre, campaign communications director Michael Tyler referenced Biden’s remarks at a Friday post-debate rally in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Reading from a teleprompter and addressing a live audience, in contrast with the debate, the president told cheering supporters, “I don’t walk as easy as I used to. I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to. I don’t debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth.”

“Obviously, I think the president said himself he’s not as good as a debater as he used to be. He doesn’t walk or talk as smoothly as he used to. But he knows how to fight like hell. And I think he showed that today in North Carolina,” Tyler said. “And so, that’s what the American people are going to continue to see day in and day out for the remainder of this campaign: a president in Joe Biden who understands he’s never going to stop fighting for the American people, and he’s never going to stop contrasting that against Donald Trump, who every single day is clearly fighting for himself.

“So, I think the President is honest about his own performance. But as far as what last night’s debate actually provided for the American people, it — it crystallized the threat — it begins to crystallize the threat that Donald Trump poses,” he added.

After a string of campaign events in New York and New Jersey on Saturday, first lady Jill Biden and the president’s children and grandchildren gathered at Camp David reportedly to encourage the president to stay in the race despite uproar within the Democratic Party questioning whether the current commander-in-chief is a viable candidate to nominate for a second term.

Reports said Biden’s family on Sunday blamed campaign staffers, arguing they did not adequately prepare the president for the CNN debate against former President Trump.

According to a new report by Politico on Tuesday, a senior administration official claimed that some of President Biden’s top officials are “scared s—less” of displeasing him in daily briefings.

“It’s like, ‘You can’t include that, that will set him off,’ or ‘Put that in, he likes that,’” a senior administration official told Politico on background. “It’s a Rorschach test, not a briefing. Because he is not a pleasant person to be around when he’s being briefed. It’s very difficult, and people are scared [s—less] of him.”

The official told Politico that Biden is unwilling to take advice from outside his small inner circle, becoming increasingly isolated from wider public opinion and input.

Jeane-Pierre’s White House press briefing is scheduled to start Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. ET.