OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates found himself facing backlash on Wednesday after sharing a tweet containing a video posted by an account that was mocking President Joe Biden.
Bates reposted a video featuring White House press secretary Karine Jean-Piere that was originally shared by Greg Price, a former social media coordinator for the Daily Caller who now serves as a senior digital strategist at XStrategies LLC. However, prior to Bates sharing the video, Price had briefly altered his account name to “Joe Biden Showered With His Daughter,” causing this name to appear under Bates’ post.
In addition, “Bates also retweeted Price’s original tweet containing the video, apparently without noticing Price’s account name,” the Daily Caller noted.
Lmaoooo pic.twitter.com/YZ2n8UHx4C
— Alexis De Popeville (@JohnPaulThee3rd) February 23, 2023
Ok, @AndrewJBates46, you gotta admit this is pretty funny…
+1 @greg_price11 pic.twitter.com/0zxTmvqelA
— Henry Rodgers (@henryrodgersdc) February 23, 2023
Uhm, Andrew……
— Mike Hahn (@mikehahn_) February 23, 2023
And he can't delete it because it's a government account
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 23, 2023
The video featured Jean-Pierre during Thursday’s press briefing when she expressed her disappointment over the purported “dishonest attacks” aimed at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg regarding his management of the train derailment and hazardous chemical leak in East Palestine, Ohio.
“There’s been a lot of bad faith attacks on Secretary Buttigieg. If you remember Elaine Chao. She was the head of the Department of Transportation and when there were these types of chemical spills, nobody was calling for her to be fired,” Jean-Pierre said.
After waiting for 10 days, Buttigieg drew significant criticism for not promptly responding to the crisis. He eventually traveled to East Palestine on Thursday, which was twenty days after the train derailment occurred on Feb. 3, but it was a day after former President Donald Trump made a trip to the town and handed out bottled water as well as paying for some meals for local residents.
During an interview on Tuesday, the Transportation Secretary acknowledged that he could have issued a statement earlier in the aftermath of the incident.
“Our department was on the ground within hours, helping with the response and the investigation,” he said. “Again, I respect the separate role of the [National Transportation Safety Board]. But we have been on the ground literally from day one to make sure that we’re doing our part to support. I do think it’s important to speak out about that, and I could have spoken sooner, and I’m making sure that we are focused on the actions that are gonna make a difference.”
Regarding the Transportation Secretary’s visit, his self-described press person was not too thrilled to see reporters with their cameras when he visited.
The press person repeatedly asked the reporters to ditch their cameras and then she would speak to them. At one point police were called over by the Buttigieg team and police informed them that they could walk away from the reporters if they wanted to.
Here is a partial transcript:
HERNANDEZ: “Mayor Pete, why did it take you an entire two and a half weeks to actually get here to respond to East Palestine? Will you apologize to the residents of this city for — for the slow response, the government’s slow response? Do you have any apology?”
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “I am his press person, I can help you.”
HERNANDEZ: “Sure. Sure. Sure. Sure.”
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “I am his press person. I don’t want to –” [crosstalk]
HERNANDEZ: “So, can — can — can we ask why it took him almost three weeks to get here?”
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “Sorry, I don’t want to do this on camera.”
REPORTER 1: “What was his personal time off while it was a tragedy happening here?”
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “I’m happy to talk to you guys off camera.”
HERNANDEZ: “And can we also ask you why, you know, he waited until President Donald Trump came here to actually make an appearance? This is a very important question that people across America would like to know.”
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “I’m happy to have a conversation with you. I do not want to be on camera.”
WATCH:
Trump arrived to provide aid in the aftermath of a train derailment and personally helped with the delivery of numerous truckloads of bottled water to the area. According to John Rourke, CEO of Blue Line Moving, the company transported a total of 13 pallets of water pallets to East Palestine to assist the small town.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told Breitbart News: “President Trump is meeting with the citizens of East Palestine, and he will never forget them and what they are going through. Contrast that with Biden and the federal government, who have failed them from the beginning.”
