White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated on Wednesday that President Joe Biden has “not stepped down from campaigning or running because he did not think he could serve a second term.”

When asked by a press corps reporter why Biden was stepping down, she advised Americans to “tune in” to his scheduled Oval Office speech.

“So you’re saying that he believes that he’s capable of serving another four years but he just doesn’t believe that he can win another four years?” the reporters asked.

White House says Biden did not drop out for this health pic.twitter.com/3Xb8JCut5U

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 24, 2024

“I will let the president speak for himself,” Jean-Pierre responded.

On Sunday, Biden exited the race for the White House and endorsed his vice president Kamala Harris.

The reporter pressed, “so today, the president believes he is capable, fully capable, of serving in the office that he currently has now and for the next four and a half years if he wanted to do that?”

“Absolutely,” Jean-Pierre affirmed. Then she quoted from Biden’s campaign resignation letter, posted to X on Sunday afternoon. “It is in the best interests of my Party,” Biden wrote, “and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term.”

Biden notably prioritized the Party, though Jean-Pierre told reporters in the briefing room that his decision was about “putting country first.” She continued to refer questions to his speech.

Another White House reporter persisted in trying to get answers. She asked about Biden’s statement that “it’s in the country’s best interests to step aside,” wondering “why is it in the country’s best interest for him to step aside? Does it have to do with his health—”

Jean-Pierre interjected, saying “it does not have to do—they have nothing to do with his health. Again, the President’s going to speak to this directly, to the American people, tonight, in prime time. I know you all will be watching it, there’s specials going on tonight. He will, I promise you, he will speak to all of this directly tonight.”

“… Let him speak for himself. But here’s what I will say, um, and I think we gave a little bit of a tiktok to all of you, he met a small group of advisors on Saturday evening and with his family, and just thinking through how to move forward, on Sunday afternoon he made that decision, it was in a very short period of time, as you can imagine, and then at 1:45 he got on the phone with some of his assistants to the president, some advisors, he let them know, and then minutes later a letter went out.

“So it was in a very short period of time,” she said, “that the President was able to think about this and make a decision.” Then she told everyone, again, to watch the speech.

Jean-Pierre had also emphasized, prior to taking questions, that Americans are in one of those “rare moments in history” when they have to decide if they want to go “forward or backward.”

One of those "rare moments in history" where Americans must decide if they want to go forward or backward. pic.twitter.com/DAKQ5YjAkA

— Libby Emmons (@libbyemmons) July 24, 2024

“This is one of those rare moments in history where the decisions we make now will determine the future of our nation. America must choose between moving forward or backward. Between hope and hate, between unity and division,” she said.