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Karine Jean-Pierre halts White House press briefing when woman faints

‘Does anybody need water?’ press secretary asked after individual faints in back of briefing room

John Bowden
Washington DC
,Andrew Feinberg
Tuesday 18 June 2024 20:51 BST
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Karine Jean-Pierre pauses press conference after someone passes out in 'hot' briefing room

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Tuesday’s White House press briefing was briefly interrupted when Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rushed away from the podium to assist a woman who had fainted in the back of the room.

A blazing hot day in DC — a 93-degree scorcher with few clouds — led to an uncomfortably hot briefing room in the White House Tuesday afternoon.

As Jean-Pierre was asked about an announcement made by the president around protecting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, someone in the room interrupted her and alerted everyone to the fainting individual, stating that it was an “emergency.”

The White House press secretary stepped down from the podium and handed over a cold bottle of water that was brought from the White House offices to the press working area directly east of the briefing room.

The briefing resumed after a few minutes, with Jean-Pierre asking reporters: “Does anbody need water?”

As the normal question-and-answer session resumed, personnel from the White House Medical Unit arrived on the scene and quietly attended to the affected person.

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