Newsmax reporter James Rosen was attacked by both White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre and NBC News reporter Kelly O’Donnell at Wednesday’s briefing for asking if Joe Biden is awake.
O’Donnell, who is the current president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, was suggesting to Jean Pierre that Biden come to the Brady Briefing Room to speak to reporters when Rosen interjected, “if he’s awake!” O’Donnell snapped, “That’s inappropriate!” while wagging her finger at Rosen, prompting Jean Pierre to gloat to Rosen that he was scolded by the head of the WHCA.
REPORTER: “We would invite the president to come here and tell us…”@JamesRosenTV: “…if he’s awake!” pic.twitter.com/R9S4BWcifS
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 3, 2024
O’Donnell: “…and we would invite the president to come here and tell us that directly.”
Jean Pierre: “Noted, noted, noted, Kelly.”
Rosen: “If he’s awake!”
O’Donnell: “That’s inappropriate!”
Jean Pierre, gloating: “As you heard from your colleague, the President of the WHCA, that’s inappropriate. Thank you, Kelly.”
Two-shot version with O’Donnell wagging her finger at Rosen:
O’Donnell: We would invite the President to come here and tell us
Reporter: If he’s awake
O’Donnell: That’s inappropriate pic.twitter.com/u5TMvmBn5y
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 3, 2024
The New York Times reported this week that Biden was given daily scheduled naps during his week-long debate prep at Camp David, while Axios reported Biden is only fully functional between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The day after Biden’s debate debacle, Rosen posted a reminder that he had been blackballed by the White House for eight months after asking Biden to his face in January 2022 about a poll that found 49 percent of Americans thought he was mentally unfit to be president:
When I asked @POTUS on January 19, 2022, “with utmost respect for your life accomplishments and the high office you hold,” why the electorate harbored such profound concerns about his cognitive fitness, it was considered rude, and I was blackballed in briefings for eight months. pic.twitter.com/oewwYTPpgO
— James Rosen (@JamesRosenTV) June 28, 2024
Rosen’s Newsmax colleague Logan Ratick recalled that the Obama-Biden administration spied on Rosen (and his parents), “The Obama-Biden DOJ surveilled @JamesRosenTV’s phone calls and emails. But apparently what’s “inappropriate” to his colleagues in the WHCA is asking if the President (who reportedly takes naps during the day and allegedly sundowns before dinnertime) is “awake.””
The Obama-Biden DOJ surveilled @JamesRosenTV’s phone calls and emails.
But apparently what’s “inappropriate” to his colleagues in the WHCA is asking if the President (who reportedly takes naps during the day and allegedly sundowns before dinnertime) is “awake.” https://t.co/VkomplngfJ
— Logan Ratick (@Logan_Ratick) July 3, 2024
Screen image of O’Donnell scolding Rosen:
liberal women when they hear a banger pic.twitter.com/ewjdCwBlsA
— Gregg Re (@gregg_re) July 3, 2024