Karine Jean-Pierre HANGS UP on North Carolina radio host after he asked if Biden has dementia and peppered White House press secretary about gas prices going up

White House Press Secretary hung Karine Jean-Pierre suddenly ended an interview with a North Carolina radio host who asked her about inflation after lobbing an 'incredibly offensive' question about whether President Biden has dementia.

Jean-Pierre dialed in to Mark Garrison of Charlotte AM radio station WBT Tuesday on a day the president was visiting the state. But she didn't hang up immediately when he asked her: 'Does the president have dementia?'

'I can't even believe you're asking me this question. That is incredibly offensive question to ask,' she began, before scolding: 'No, no no - you're taking us down this rabbit hole. Let me be very clear about this.' 

As she does during her regular briefings, Jean-Pierre tried to steer her answer towards the president's record, rather than a spate of physical stumbles amid polls showing voter concerns about the 81-year-old president's age as he battles 77-year-old Donald Trump. 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre quickly ended a phone interview after getting asked if Biden has dementia followed by a question about inflation - telling a radio host to have an 'amazing' day

'This is a president, if you watch him every day if you really pay attention to his record, what he has done, you will see exactly how focused he has been on the American people.' 

The question isn't what brought the prompt end to the call. It was a straight up inquiry about inflation after mentioning grocery store prices. 'How does Mr. Biden win votes when people don't have as much disposable income,' Garrison asked, on a day a new poll found Biden gaining in swing states but still trailing Trump in North Carolina. 

'The president understands. He grew up in a middle class family, working class family in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He gets it,' she said, before defending actions he took on gas prices. 

'We're in a different place than we were a year ago on gas prices, on eggs, milk and seafood products.'

Then she abruptly ended the call. 'Thank you so much, Mark, have an amazing, amazing day', she said – followed by a loud dial tone as she ended the call in the clip that aired. 

'Wow - she hung up,' said Garrison. 

'As she often does when the President travels, Karine had multiple back-to-back interviews with radio stations who were each offered 7 minutes,' said White House spokesman Andrew Bates in a statement.

'Once the agreed-upon time was over, she called into the next interview so everyone could get their full time. This particular station chose not to air the full interview and instead artificially attached a sound effect that our phones do not make when calls end,' he said.

'Wow - she hung up,' said host Mark Garrison

'Wow - she hung up,' said Mark Garrison of Charlotte AM radio station WBT

The interview came as Bide campaigned in North Carolina

Inflation rose to 3.2 per cent in February compared to last year, a drop in the rate of inflation but still posing a top concern to Americans and a political problem for Biden. But consumer prices are up nearly 20 per cent from January 2020 to January 2024.

If Jean-Pierre took a quick scan of Garrison's X page, after some snaps of food at the state fair she would have noticed an interview with swimmer Riley Gaines, who Garrison says has 'been attacked for saying that biological boys should not play on girls sports teams.' He also reposted a Newsmax podcast about the Biden administration blaming Donald Trump for Afghanistan.