OAN’s Brooke Mallory
4:46 PM – Tuesday, February 6, 2024
John Kirby of the National Security Council, a White House spokesman in the Biden administration, apologized on Tuesday for erroneously claiming that the U.S. had informed Iraq in advance of Friday’s attacks against terrorists backed by Iran.
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Although Kirby had stated otherwise during a news conference shortly after the strikes in response to the deaths of three U.S. soldiers in Jordan on January 28th, Washington “did not provide Baghdad with the early notice.”
“I deeply apologize for the error, and I regret any confusion that it caused,” Kirby told reporters.
“It was based on information we had, or that a witness provided to me, in those early hours after the strikes. It turns out, that information was incorrect, and I certainly regret the error,” Kirby continued.
“And I hope that you’ll understand there was no ill intent behind it—no deliberate intent to deceive or to be wrong. I take those responsibilities very, very seriously. And I deeply regret the mistake that I made.”
As a consistent co-host of White House briefings, Kirby is well-known among reporters for his colorful off-camera remarks and is assumed to be a possible contender for presidential press secretary in the future if Biden is re-elected.
“I made a mistake there on Friday night,” he added. “I do really regret it, and I promise you I will do a better job going forward and work harder to not put bad information out there. Again, my apologies.”
The apology differs from the Biden administration’s other responses to embarrassing mistakes, such as the current president’s 2022 query, “Where’s Jackie?” when he searched for the late Representative Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) at a public event.
However, the Indiana congresswoman previously died in a car accident in August of that year.
While responding to a series of inquiries regarding Biden’s Walorski blunder at a news briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre maintained that Walorski was “top of mind,” refusing to acknowledge that Biden had made a mistake. Her response confused reporters at the time.
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