Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre | Eastern North Carolina Now

    But again, this is something that we take - we took very seriously, which is why we passed the American Rescue Plan, which is why we put in $130 billion to deal with what we were seeing in schools.

    And so, you know, we're going to continue to make that - to continue to do that work and work closely with the schools.

    Go ahead.

    Q Karine, two questions. One on Jackson. It is in a state where - this water crisis is - one of the poorest states in the South. With that said, it's compounding - the water crisis is compounding so much negatively in that community.

    And I remember during the Bush years, during Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans was set aside as a special case - as well as Detroit was set aside as a special case - for them to work on revitalization - renaissance, if you will.

    Is Jackson one of those places that this administration would hold in that kind of category because the economy is definitely impacted - a poor state, et cetera? People are not working right now. It is unsanitary to go without water this way. Is Jackson one of those places that could have a special designation because of the compounding negatives and now this?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, the Biden-Harris administration - we're committed to helping the people of Mississippi cope with this current emergency, and we are going to continue to work with the state and local government officials to explore, I can tell you, all options to ensure that the people of Jackson have the access, to your point, to clean, safe drinking water. I don't have any announcement to make.

    I listed out yesterday the American Rescue Plan and what that provided for water upgrades, which was $450 million. Twenty million went to Jackson - has already gone to Jackson to address water and sewer instruct- - infrastructure needs. The state also has about $75 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding available to provide clean and safe water.

    And so, we'll continue to partner closely. We're going to look at all options. I don't have anything for you at this time to announce.

    Q And lastly - I asked the same question a week ago - tomorrow now, there's expected to be a civil rights meeting with the President. What can you read out about that meeting?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm not going to comment about - about any potential meeting, any expected meeting. I'm just not going to comment on that.

    Q But are we in a moment where - the civil rights leaders and the President have a lot to talk about. Voting rights has gone - I mean, so many different issues that impact a community that's still underserved with some of the highest numbers of negatives in almost every category.

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, we have been in - had continued conversation with civil rights members and leaders since the beginning of this administration. We value those relationships.

    The President has met, as you know, with civil rights leaders as President a few times. And we take - you know, we - we respect that - that relationship. We respect our conversations that we have with them. And there's always a long list of things to talk about, including voting rights and so many other issues that affect different communities.

    I don't have anything more to share. I don't have an agenda to share with you at this time. But that is a relationship that we have held as an important one not just during the President's - not just during this administration as President, but during Vice President and also as senator.


    Q And lastly, a couple of months ago, TheGrio did a story on the President's Black agenda. He carries a card in his pocket and on that he writes things. And at some point in time, he had a list of items with the Black agenda. What are some of those Black agenda issues today, if you were to go to him and ask him if that's on his card?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, when it comes to - if you look at the President's economic plan, he's been very deliberate. If you - I just talked about the American Rescue Plan. I talked about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and how that plan is helping the Black community. I laid out what it's - what we have - what we have put forward to help Jackson, Mississippi.

    But it's not just that. We know about education, what he's done for HBCUs - more than $6 billion that he has put forth - a historic amount of money to help HBCUs. So, education has been really important.

    You think about the student loan - loan forgiveness that he put forward last week. That's going to help communities at need. Right? It's going to help the folks that - who are at the most risk - if you think about 90 percent of that plan is going to help people who are making under $75,000. That is part of the President's plan.

    If you think about - going back to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, that's going to - that's going to create jobs for people. Ninety percent of what you see from that law is going to - 90 percent - it's going to create jobs where folks, you know, don't have to have a high sch- - a college degree. That is going to be important.

    We're talking about building economic wealth. We're talking about having that generational wealth that's so important for brown - brown and Black communities that they don't have. That's what the American Rescue Plan does when it helps start small businesses - for folks to start small businesses so they can develop that generational wealth.

    All of those things are part of what the President has worked on to make sure that he's building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out.

    So, he's going to continue to do that work. It doesn't end there. We just passed the Inflation Reduction Act that's going to help many communities as well. It lowers costs of prescription drugs. When you think about communities of color, how much our seniors have to pay - thousands of dollars a month on prescription drugs. So that work continues. It doesn't end - it doesn't end there.

    But we would say that there's been so much historic effort, historic legislation that's been done under this administration that's going to help many communities, including the Black community.

    I'll come back down. Go ahead.

    Q More on the soul of America, from the back?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'll come to the back. Go ahead.

    Q Thank you.

    Q What do you think the President's message tonight is for Americans who consider themselves Republicans or may still support the former President? Is there something in the speech directed to them?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, look, the President really does believe that this - that what he's going to talk about is something that many Americans are going to care about. It doesn't matter which side of the aisle that you care - that you sit at. When you think about the possibilities of our democracy, when you think about how we are going to fight for - to protect our rights - right? - to protect our democracy, he thinks that's going to touch a lot of people.

    We have seen - somebody just talked about polling and how we see that. Many people are concerned about where our democracy is. I would argue that's probably across the board. And when we talk about extremism, we're talking about a very small piece - a component of - of the American public, right? We're talking about a very small component of MAGA Republicans in Congress that - that is something that they believe, right?

    But we know, and the President believes and is optimistic that there are many - many Americans who want to continue to make sure that we uphold our democracy. And so, that is something that - that we're going to hear: some hope about the direction of America and the future of America, building toward a more perfect union. That is something that we have heard throughout our history in this country.

    And - and so, he's going to speak directly to them. He's going to make the case. He's going to be optimistic. He's going to lay a path forward. And - and that's what matters.

    And that's why it's not - he's not going to focus on a political party. He's not going to foc- - focus on a political person. He's going to focus at what is - what matters, what is currently mattering in this moment. And as it is at the heart of who we are as a country - talk about who we are as a country. And - and that's what you're going to hear from the President.

    Q Can I follow up on the foreign policy -

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Hold on. Hold on. I'll come to the back.

    Go ahead.



    Q I just want to try again on oil price caps. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister said today that Russia will not export oil to the world market if the price is capped below the cost of production. So given those comments - it's not entirely hypothetical, given he's said that - is the White House concerned that Russia would refuse to sell oil under the cap, which would then cut off supply and potentially raise prices?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Again, the meeting is happening tomorrow. I'm going to let the G7 Finance Ministers Meeting occur. And we'll get back to you on that.

    But I just want to just lay out what we've done already - the strong actions that we have taken to ban Russian oil. And U.S. allies have - have announced plans to wind down their own imports of Russian oil. We've heard them make those - those announcements.

    And, you know, but Putin has continued to try to find new markets for Russian oil. So this is the most effective way, we believe, to hit hard at Putin's revenue. And doing so will result in not only a drop in Putin's oil revenue, but also global energy prices.

    So we're going to continue to - continue to have our conversations with the G7 leaders. This is what's going to happen tomorrow with the foreign - the finance ministers, and we'll have more to share.

    Q Karine -

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I'm going to go to the back because people have been saying I've not gone to the back.

    Go ahead, Phil.

    And then I'll come around.

    Go. Go ahead, Phil.

    Q Thanks, Karine. Returning to our discussion yesterday and following up on some other things that you've said today, I just want to clarify: Does the President believe that the effort to restrict abortion, to restrict that freedom is semi-fascism?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Say that - how is this connected to yesterday? I'm just trying to think.

    Q So, in terms of extremism - the extremism conversation that we're having yesterday, does the President believe that the effort to restrict abortion - whether it's at a local level or the federal level - to restrict that freedom - does he believe that that is semi-fascism?

    MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, he was very clear - he was very clear that MAGA Republicans in Congress have an agenda that is extreme. And that's what you hear from them. The national ban on abortion is extreme. And also, it's not in line with where a majority of Americans are. It is just not. It is taking away people's rights. It is taking away people's freedoms.


    And, you know, he doesn't - he believes that is an extreme agenda. You've heard that from him directly. I don't even need to confirm that from here. He's actually talked about how extreme it is.

    When we saw what was done with the Dobbs decision on June 24th - to take away a right that people had for 50 years - a constitutional right for 50 years that women had to make a decision for themselves on their healthcare. And - and so, yeah, we see that as extreme.

    Q So - but I'm trying to figure out which bucket in particular to put it in, because the administration, as well as the President, has used different language here. There's "extremism," and then there's also the "semi-fascism" moniker that he used. I mean, this is an effort that's been around for a long time. Does he believe that this movement - working through - whether it's the state legislature or Congress - is in either of those buckets?