During the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health Thursday, President Joe Biden called out the late U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.), who perished in a car accident last month.
“I want to thank all of you here, including bipartisan elected officials like Representative McGovern, Senator Braun, Senator Booker, Representative – Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? I didn’t think she was – she wasn’t going to be here – to help make this a reality,” said the president.
Following the incident, reporters appeared confused and the White House confirmed that Biden was referring to the late congresswoman.
FOX News called it a “bizarre episode,” and USA Today said that the president, who turns 80 this year, has become “known for making slip-ups in public remarks,” and “has faced regular attacks from Republicans over his mental fitness.”
“The President was naming the congressional champions on this issue and was acknowledging her incredible work,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre when asked about the comment. “He had – he had already planned to welcome the congresswoman’s family to the White House on Friday. There will be a bill signing in her honor this coming Friday. So, of course, she was on his mind.”
However, this explanation did not sit well with some.
“White House Spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre’s explanation is a disrespectful lie to Jackie’s constituents and the American people. We deserve a real answer,” said a statement from Indiana Republican Party Chairman Kyle Hupfer.
Walorski’s office announced in early August that the 58-year-old politician had died in a car crash on State Road 19 in northern Indiana. Three others died in the accident, including local Republican Party leader Zachary Potts, Walorski’s Communications Director Emma Thompson and the driver of their vehicle.
She is survived by her husband, Dean A. Swihart, and other family members.
When Walorski passed away, Biden issued a statement describing her as a woman who “spent a lifetime serving the community that she grew up in.” He also said “we may have represented different parties and disagreed on many issues, but she was respected by members of both parties for her work on the House Ways and Means Committee on which she served.”
While Hupfer said “no amount of spin from the White House can justify President Joe Biden forgetting the tragic passing,” USA Today writer Jill Lawrence had a more charitable view.
“I shuddered when I learned that President Joe Biden had called out to a crowd in search of a congresswoman who died nearly two months ago in an automobile accident,” she said. He’s going to turn 80 in November and let’s face it, this seemed like a memory fail – a particularly embarrassing one.”
She added that there’s also “another way to look at this: Biden was trying to credit the late Indiana Republican,” who was often at odds with his agenda. “It’s unfortunate that he made the mistake. At the same time, it demonstrated a generosity and professionalism that was also present in Biden’s Tuesday conversation with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a frequent and harsh Biden critic, as Hurricane Ian bore down on his state,” said Lawrence.
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