Jean-Pierre: We’ve Been Saying People Will Feel Biden’s Policies for Years, But ‘It Takes Time’

During an interview aired on Wednesday’s “PBS NewsHour,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged that the White House has been saying that people will fully understand the impacts of President Joe Biden’s policies once they start to feel them for years, but “it takes time” for his policies to kick in.

Jean-Pierre said, “Every issue that the President is working on is popular, whether it’s student loans, whether it is making sure that we’re dealing with gun violence in a way that really helps to save and protect communities, save our young people’s lives, right? He was able to get a bipartisan deal on a gun prevention deal that we hadn’t seen in 30 years. That’s also important. I don’t want to forget that. Beating Big Pharma in that Inflation Reduction Act, he was able to put forth a piece of legislation that obviously is a law now that really fights back Big Pharma and makes sure that Medicare is able to negotiate for itself. And that’s something that Americans care about. Look, we understand what Americans have gone through this past three years. It is incredibly complicated, and we get it. We get that it’s going to take a little bit of time for Americans to see what this President has done.”

Co-host Geoff Bennett then asked, “Hasn’t the President been saying that for the better part of three years, that once the American people start to feel the impact of these policies, once the American people start to see these shovel-ready infrastructure projects begin, then they’ll fully understand the impact of the work that I’ve been doing? He’s been saying that for years. Why hasn’t that shifted?”

Jean-Pierre answered, “And I understand that, but I also understand and we also understand that it takes time, right? You asked me what the President’s going to say and what he’s going to do tomorrow. He’s going to lay that out. He’s going to lay out the achievements that he’s done in the last three years.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett