Politico Roasts Biden Officials for Insisting They ‘Have Been Clear’ When They Absolutely Have Not

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Politico criticized President Joe Biden’s White House for failing to be “clear” about its policies despite claims to the contrary in a blistering article on Tuesday.

In the article titled, “The White House insists ‘We have been clear.’ Has it?” Politico’s Matt Berg and Krystal Campos called out the Biden administration for frequently avoiding tough questions with the stock answer, “We have been clear.”

“But they often haven’t been clear — after all, why would the reporters be asking?” Berg and Campos protested. “Still, as this video compilation by POLITICO shows, spokespeople from the White House to the Pentagon to the State Department seem addicted to various versions of that phrase.”

Noting that the phrase was commonly used in answer to questions about the Biden administration’s controversial support for Israel against Gaza, Berg and Campos said, “Insisting the administration has ‘been clear’ is an attempt to manage a policy that may be unpopular, or at least offer flexibility so that the administration isn’t pigeonholed by specifics.”

One of the most prominent examples they noted was the White House’s supposed “red line” in Rafah, which it repeatedly warned Israel not to cross. Officials have repeatedly fallen back on the “been clear” statement when pressed about Israel crossing the White House’s red line with its ongoing assault in Rafah.

Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin also criticized the Biden administration’s go-to phrase, telling Politico, “‘We have been clear’ is to a Biden spox what the phrase ‘fugetaboutit’ is to Lefty from Donnie Brasco.”

He added, “It’s a catchall for dodging legitimate questions about failed or failing policies.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, deputy press secretary Andrew Bates, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and President Biden himself have all used the “been clear” statement to get out of tough questions in recent years.

The statement was also frequently used by former White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

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