In an unusually tense segment for the typically friendly confines of MSNBC, former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was confronted over her past defense of President Joe Biden’s mental acuity — and this time, the questions didn’t come from Fox News or conservative media, but from MSNBC’s Elise Jordan.
Appearing Saturday night on The Weekend: Primetime, Jean-Pierre was asked point-blank if she regretted her aggressive pushback against Special Counsel Robert Hur’s 2024 report, which famously raised serious concerns about President Biden’s memory, calling it “significantly limited” and citing repeated lapses during interviews.
‘Have You Apologized?’ KJP Gets *WRECKED* for Covering Up Biden’s Mental Decline on… MSNBC??
Former WH Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was pressed *ON MSNBC* for covering up Joe Biden’s mental decline.
“Have you apologized to Robert Hur?”
KJP was stopped cold. Visibly… pic.twitter.com/auM2ixmySs
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) October 27, 2025
“You were at the podium leading the attacks on Robert Hur,” Jordan reminded Jean-Pierre, before asking the question that clearly rattled the former press secretary: “Have you apologized to Robert Hur?”
Jean-Pierre, visibly taken aback, stumbled slightly in her response — a rare moment for a media veteran who once sparred daily with White House reporters. “I mean… look… what I can say to you is, I saw the president every single day,” she began, pivoting to personal anecdotes and reiterating her view that Biden was “zeroed in and focused.”
But Jordan didn’t let the moment slide. Pressing further, she noted that Americans saw Biden’s decline for themselves during the June 2024 presidential debate — a night many Democrats still cite as the unofficial end of Biden’s political viability. “The mental decline,” Jordan said, “was obvious.”
Jean-Pierre doubled down, refusing to retract her criticism of Hur’s report and insisting that her defense was based on her own close observations over years of daily interaction with the president. “I traveled with him 95% of the time,” she emphasized, painting a picture of a man fully engaged behind the scenes — a stark contrast to the version many Americans witnessed onstage during the campaign.
Co-host Ayman Mohyeldin later circled back, asking whether Jean-Pierre had “any regrets” from her time behind the podium. The answer was telling. Rather than acknowledging mistakes or offering nuance, Jean-Pierre pivoted again — this time highlighting her identity and historic role: “I’m very proud, as a Black woman who is queer, to have served as press secretary,” she said. “And I’m proud of everything I did for the Biden Administration.”
It was a notable shift from the substance of the question — namely, whether she regrets dismissing legitimate concerns about Biden’s cognitive state, concerns later validated by both Special Counsel Hur and millions of Americans watching the 2024 campaign unfold.
And if even MSNBC is beginning to ask them? The dam may already be breaking.
