Conservative media cries foul that Karine Jean-Pierre called Fox News “racist”

The conservative New York Post published an outrage story this week about how out White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called Fox News “racist,” but people on Twitter are scratching their heads about why that would actually be a problem.

Last week, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that she would be leaving her position in the Biden administration and that Jean-Pierre would be replacing her.

Related: Sarah Palin is already claiming voter fraud for an election that hasn’t happened yet

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Now rightwing media is digging into Jean-Pierre’s past in order to find reasons to discredit her, and she will be the first Black woman and the first LGBTQ person to be White House press secretary. And the New York Post landed on… Jean-Pierre saying that Fox News is racist.

“[Fox News] was racist before coronavirus, they are racist during the coronavirus, Fox News will be racist after the coronavirus,” Jean-Pierre said on March 15, 2020, on MSNBC, when she was working as an analyst for the channel. “So there is nothing new here. I think the difference is they are all-in on being state TV for Donald Trump, and so they will continue to give misinformation.”

She was discussing how Donald Trump and others in rightwing media were referring to COVID-19 as “China virus” and the general increase in anti-Asian rhetoric at the time.

“Incoming WH press secretary Jean-Pierre called Fox News ‘racist’ in 2020,” the New York Post‘s headline blared. But it didn’t seem to convince everyone that Jean-Pierre would make a bad press secretary.

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Cause it is. So what?

— Akilah Hughes (@AkilahObviously) May 10, 2022

So she states the obvious

— Matty Ofusa (@Matthew53399107) May 10, 2022

pic.twitter.com/FLdfaTdR4X

— Stupendous Gravity (@StupendousGrav1) May 11, 2022

Sounds accurate to me https://t.co/Trrfegi6FY

— Jane Daly 🇺🇦 (@dalybeauty) May 11, 2022

pic.twitter.com/Ki3jA6wPcT

— Karls_quest (@Karls_Quest) May 10, 2022

So unlike the press secretaries from the previous administration, she's committed to the truth.

— Hank Epton (@HankEpton) May 10, 2022

pic.twitter.com/swdSuscg32

— Dana (@DanaSan68018976) May 10, 2022

Because it is. Next.

— Portia Pro-Choice McGonagal (@PortiaMcGonagal) May 10, 2022

I think telling the truth is an admirable quality in a press secretary!

— Jennifer Gunter (@DrJenGunter) May 11, 2022

I mean…https://t.co/K89uukzzqf

— B Robinson (@BRobinson1021) May 10, 2022

Oh, noes! Did it hurt? pic.twitter.com/cJszeMarxI

— Edgeoforever 🖖 🐝🌻 (@edgeoforever) May 10, 2022

pic.twitter.com/gTyD84b9wS

— Friendly Bob – "deeply rooted in history." (@FriendlyBobA) May 10, 2022

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