In his remarks Wednesday at a White House conference on hunger, President Biden sought out former Congresswoman Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) in the audience.
“Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” Biden said, looking at the crowd and expressing uncertainty about whether he planned to be there.
Walorski died in a car accident in early August.
She was one of four lawmakers who sponsored bipartisan legislation to hold the conference, the first of its kind in more than 50 years. Before asking about Walorski, Biden had referred to the other three: Sens. Cory Booker (DN.J.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Rep. James P. McGovern (D-Mass.).
Asked later about Biden’s comments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Walorski had been “the starting point” for Biden because he plans to see his family Friday at a signing ceremony for ‘a bill that changes the name of a veterans clinic.
In August after Walorski’s death, Biden and first lady Jill Biden issued a statement offering their condolences, saying they “appreciated his partnership” in facilitating the hunger conference.
Two members of Walorski’s staff, along with another motorcyclist, also died in the crash in Indiana.
Taking questions at a White House briefing, Jean-Pierre would not say explicitly that Biden had been wrong or perhaps forgotten about Walorski’s death.
“The president was naming the congressional champions on this issue and she was recognizing their incredible work,” Jean-Pierre said. “I was already planning to welcome the congresswoman’s family to the White House on Friday. … She was the most important thing.
Jean-Pierre was pressed on several other points about the episode, including by a reporter who said that John Lennon was “the most important thing” to him, but that he is not “looking around” for the late member of the Beatles Lennon was killed in 1980.
Jean-Pierre responded that when the journalist is president and signs a bill for Lennon, “then we can have this conversation.”
Jean-Pierre later said he wouldn’t answer the question differently just because it was asked multiple times.
“You all can have opinions about how I’m answering it, but I’m answering the question as he saw it,” he said, referring to Biden. “Again, she was top of mind. In two days she will see her family to honor her, to honor the work she has done.”