#shorts On 3/16/2023, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre couldn’t even answer a basic question on banking when asked if Biden supports or opposes further bank consolidation.
Reporter: So the Biden administration has expressed a lot of concern in the past about consolidation in other sectors. You’ve spoken about meatpacking, shipping, ocean shipping, oil companies. Are you worried that this crisis surrounding several regional banks could lead to a consolidation, a concentration in the larger banking sector? And — and then I’ll have another one.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, promoting competition in our — in the American economy, we see that as a priority … promoting capita- — capitalism — sorry, competition — pardon me — specifically encourages the Justice Department — in consultation with the Fed, the FDIC, and Comptroller of the Currency — to revitalize merger and oversight …
Reporter: But, I mean, the question is: Are you concerned, and what can you do about it? You know, to ev- — as — as consumers are now making decisions, having seen what happened with SVB and with Signature, what’s happening now with First Republic, you know, what tools do you have to push back against a further concentration in this critical sector?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, as it relates to specific banks and institutions, you know, I would — I would — I would refer you to the relevant banking regulators. So I’d leave that there. And that’s why the President — but, more broadly …
other clips of this published longer video is here: https://youtu.be/ucyipGmmX9s
KJP couldn’t even answer a basic question on banking when asked if Biden supports or opposes further bank consolidation