White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre suggested on Tuesday that Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) got carjacked in Washington, D.C., in large part because Republicans had refused to vote for President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan.
Cuellar was attacked in the Navy Yard on Monday night by three armed men who demanded he hand over his car. Cuellar, a black belt, said that he quickly understood the odds and opted to remain calm and cooperate.
Jean-Pierre suggested that Republicans were the reason for the increased crime in places like the district, prompting a quick follow-up question from Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy.
WATCH:
DOOCY TIME: "How are you going to blame Republicans for [Cuellar being carjacked]? Isn't D.C. run by a bunch of Democrats?"
KJP: "I'm going to speak to what [Biden] has done…American Rescue Plan, not Republican…voted for it. Not one…Billions of dollars…to make sure… pic.twitter.com/XlgKQ5Urr9
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 3, 2023
“I know you’re going to follow up on that,” Jean-Pierre said, seeing that Doocy was poised to respond. “What’s your question?”
“Well, the first follow-up would be, how are you going to blame Republicans for [Cuellar being carjacked]? Isn’t D.C. run by a bunch of Democrats?” Doocy asked.
“I’m going to speak to what the president has done, right? The president has been very straightforward about what he has done to make sure that communities are safe,” Jean-Pierre replied. “American Rescue Plan, not one Republican in Congress voted for it. Not one.”
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“There were billions of dollars in that plan, in that act, to make sure communities across the country got funding that they could indeed hire more police officers so that they can keep their communities safe,” she continued. “Republicans had nothing to do with that. They were not involved in that. They decided not to vote on the American Rescue Plan. That’s just a fact.”
What Jean-Pierre failed to mention was the fact that despite the lack of Republican votes, Biden’s American Rescue Plan passed and was signed into law in mid-March of 2021 — meaning that Republican opposition to the plan had no possible impact on what was done with the funding in a city entirely controlled by Democrats.