The news the U.S. shot down an object over Canada’s Yukon territory has sparked some questions.
Namely, why did the U.S. military shoot down something over another country’s territory?
The White House would probably want a smooth-talking spokesperson who could explain the situation — especially with the speculation about extraterrestrial activity surrounding such objects.
Instead, it got 20 painful seconds of an explanation that included messing up the name of our northern neighbor.
MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “Why is the American military shooting something out of the sky over Canada?”
“Because it’s part of, uh, NORAD. The NORAD is part of like a, uh part of a, it’s a – it’s uh what you call a coalition, a pact. And so that’s why we were able to do that,” she responded.
The press secretary stressed, “Again, we didn’t do it on our own. We did it in uh – in uh clearly, in uh, in step with Canadia – Canada.”
Watch the moment below:
Karine Jean-Pierre says the U.S. military shot an object over Canada "because it's part of NORAD. There's, uh, the NORAD is part of like a, part of a—it's a, it's a, what you call, a coalition, a consortium."
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) February 12, 2023
"We did it clearly in step with CANADIA." pic.twitter.com/X1CmWnR2ns
Former Trump administration speech writer Stephen Miller tweeted, “Brutal…”
Brutal…
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) February 12, 2023
Conservative strategist Greg Price tweeted, “Lmfao she is literally the most incompetent Press Secretary that has ever existed.”
Lmfao she is literally the most incompetent Press Secretary that has ever existed.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 12, 2023
pic.twitter.com/qmNixG2YJ6
Newsmax host Addison Smith wrote, “It took her 30 seconds to say two incoherent things; imagine how long it would take her to say one thing that made sense.”
It took her 30 seconds to say two incoherent things; imagine how long it would take her to say one thing that made sense. https://t.co/bjI9rAhL6H
— Addison Smith (@AddisonSmithTV) February 12, 2023
“Not only did she stumble her way through this, and not make sense in the process, but she said Canadia. Just mind boggling how bad she is at this,” wrote Beverly Hallberg, the president of the District Media Group.”
Not only did she stumble her way through this, and not make sense in the process, but she said Canadia. Just mind boggling how bad she is at this. https://t.co/8qcTT3sd7k
— Beverly Hallberg (@BeverlyHallberg) February 13, 2023
The answer to this question should not be too hard. It is not rocket science. But to be fair to Jean-Pierre, who has not struggled while searching for a word?
Still, this is her job. And she has a history of struggling to give coherent answers on the big issue of the day when she is deprived of the aid of a binder — if she answers the question at all.
Aside from the optics of replacing a historic pick to be press secretary, which might be playing a role, it is rather impressive she has made it this far in the job.