A Newsmax reporter asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “is President Biden woke?” in the briefing room on Tuesday, and Seth Meyers is pretty sure it’s “one of the dumbest questions” ever thrown at a White House press secretary. So, on Wednesday night, he gave it a proper mocking.
During his “A Closer Look” segment, Meyers largely focused on the recent train derailment in Ohio, which resulted in a mushroom cloud of toxic chemicals in the city of East Palestine, which has forced residents to flee their homes, wildlife to die en masse, and people in the area to develop respiratory problems.
And yet, Meyers argued, Republicans are focused on “culture war nonsense.” The “Late Night” host added that the Newsmax reporter’s question — which the reporter himself prefaced as “a threshold question” — of “Is Joe Biden woke?” is the perfect example of focusing on something totally different than the actual issue at hand. And thus, he roasted it.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have my glasses on, is that Woodward or Bernstein?” Meyers mocked. “Also, you think Joe Biden is woke? If it’s past 5 p.m. he’s probably not even awake, let alone woke.”
The question itself prompted a long but clearly exasperated response from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the moment, as well as from others. At least three other White House correspondents also appeared to find the question more ridiculous and embarrassing than “gotcha”
“‘Is Joe Biden woke?’ has to be one of the dumbest questions ever asked at a White House press conference,” Meyers said.
You can watch Meyers’s full “A Closer Look” segment in the video above.
