White House claims there was no plot to remove the press secretary

President Joe Biden's White House is now trying to claim that there was no plot to remove Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. 

Fox News reports that Deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates has released a statement denying that there ever was such a plot.

In this statement, Bates called the claim "wildly false."

But, before we get to that, we'll catch you up to speed.

The alleged "Coup"

On Friday, the New York Post published a report claiming that there was a "White House coup to oust" Jean-Pierre, but that this coup ultimately failed.

The outlet reported, "Top aides to President Biden secretly hatched a plan this past fall to replace White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre by recruiting outside allies to nudge her out the door, The Post has learned."

The Post cited anonymous sources for its report.

It continued, "De facto White House communications chief Anita Dunn, 66, the wife of Biden personal attorney Bob Bauer, told colleagues she had decided to call in prominent Democrats to explain to Jean-Pierre, 49, that the time was ripe to move on, sources told The Post."

White House Chief of staff Jeff Zients is also said to have been in on it. But, as stated, it didn't work.

The White House responds

Bates, in his statement, said that the Posts' reporting is "wildly false." In fact, he said that the reality of the situation is "the polar opposite."

"Not only are these claims wildly false, but the reality is the polar opposite. Karine was never approached by anyone with such a message. She spends four hours preparing every day. And neither Jeff nor Anita did any such thing; both have been unflinchingly supportive of her," Bates said.

Bates went on to address some of the specific claims made by the Post, including this one:

Jean-Pierre, who made history in May 2022 by becoming the first black and first openly gay person to hold the position, had developed the exasperating habit of reading canned answers directly from a binder to reporters at her regular briefings — offering what her superiors viewed as a less-than-compelling pitch for the 81-year-old Biden as he readied his re-election campaign.

Bates responded to this, saying, "Every press secretary uses the binder. Why is she being singled out?"

It is now left to each individual to decide who is telling the truth here. The White House has not released an additional statements on the matter.