White House: Biden’s attention isn’t on Trump’s arraignment

President Biden is not focused on former President Trump’s arraignment, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday, just moments after Trump surrendered at a Manhattan courthouse.

“The president’s going to focus on the American people like he does every day, this is not something that is a focus for him,” she said.

Jean-Pierre started her briefing just as Trump arrived at the courthouse, where he was to be arraigned on criminal charges. Throughout the briefing, she largely refused to comment on the arraignment and pushed back on reporters’ questions about why.

When asked if Biden has been briefed on the situation with his predecessor in New York, she said “what I can tell you for sure is that the president is focused on the American people, that I know for sure.”

Jean-Pierre also said Biden will inevitably stay informed with the news considering the wide media coverage. Reporters and cameras swarmed the courthouse on Tuesday for the history-making event.

“Of course, this is playing out on many of the networks here on a daily basis for hours and hours, so obviously he will catch parts of the news,” she said.

For most of the briefing, though, as Americans waited for updates on the former president’s arraignment, Jean-Pierre wouldn’t provide an answer to various questions on the arraignment and the historic nature of the day.

“I love how you guys are asking me this in different ways,” she said.

Fox News’ Peter Doocy questioned why Jean-Pierre didn’t have more to say, adding, “for better or worse, all of everybody in the country is talking about at this exact moment, while we’re in here, is Trump.”

“I think the American people should feel reassured that when there is an ongoing case like this one, that we’re just not commenting,” Jean-Pierre said in response.

Meanwhile, New York Times’ Michael Shear compared the White House declining to comment about Trump’s arraignment to the fact that the White House has commented on the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

“The president has never shied away when it comes to our democracy,” she said. “It was a different, different moment and a different time.”

She said Jan. 6 was historic, and Shear pushed back, considering the similar nature of Trump’s arraignment.

“January 6 was a different moment, it just was,” she reiterated. “It was something that was incredibly devastating, people died in that day and were harmed.”

Biden has also largely declined to comment on the indictment. The White House said last week that it wasn’t given advance warning that Trump would be indicted.

The White House has also insisted that it is prepared in the event of unrest surrounding the arraignment. Biden said on Monday that he has faith in New York City’s police ahead of potential unrest in the city. 

On Tuesday, supporters and critics of the former president were gathered outside the courthouse and some anti-Trump protesters cheered as Trump walked into the building.

A grand jury voted Thursday to indict Trump on criminal charges for his role in organizing hush money payments made to an adult film star during his 2016 campaign. The indictment follows an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) that centered on a $130,000 payment fixer Michael Cohen made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.