White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre got an apparently unexpected surprise at a press conference Tuesday when a reporter asked about a recent social media post from Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
The EWTN White House reporter, according to Fox News, asked Jean-Pierre about growing frustration and concern from parents over biological female athletes having to compete against biological male athletes in sports. The correspondent, Owen Jensen, began his question by referencing Tuberville’s recent post about protecting Title IX.
.@Riley_Gaines_ is exactly right.
The Biden Administration’s rewrite of Title IX is unsafe, unfair, and wrong.
It’s time for the Senate to pass my bill to save Title IX and save women’s sports. https://t.co/4YPel5V6E7
— Coach Tommy Tuberville (@SenTuberville) August 26, 2023
“What would the president say to parents out there who have daughters, let’s say in high school, for example, who are worried that their daughter may have to compete against a male, a person born male, and they could be a direct and physically athletic competition, and worry about their daughter’s safety?” Jensen said.
Jean-Pierre accused Jensen of labeling transgender children as a threat.
“What you’re alluding to is basically saying that transgender kids are dangerous. It sounds like that’s what you’re saying,” she said.
Jensen disagreed with the press secretary’s assessment of his question.
“I didn’t say that,” Emerson said. “This is strictly a safety question.”
“Well, you’re saying that their safety is at risk,” Jean-Pierre said. “You’re laying out a kind of broad example or explanation of what could be potentially happening. That is dangerous. That is a dangerous thing to say that essentially transgender kids are dangerous.”
She then called the question “irresponsible” and said the issue was “complicated.”
“I had just laid out how complicated this issue is. I had just laid out why it’s complicated, and so anything that you have any additional questions, I refer you to the Department of Education,” Jean-Pierre said. “I’m going to move on.”
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.
