'Nobody Likes My Outfit?': Jean-Pierre on a Fact-Checked Biden Tweet, a $475 Billion Loan Plan and Unsold EVs (July 17, 2023)

Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre opened her July 17, 2023, briefing with a complaint. A reporter had just praised National Security Council spokesman John Kirby: “Nice suit, John.” “What — nobody likes my outfit? (Laughter.)” Jean-Pierre answered [1].

“I’m not quite understanding this. It’s okay. There might be issues if people start commenting on my outfit,” she said [1].

The questions that followed were less friendly. The video above shows the opening of the briefing. Quotes are from the official transcript published by the American Presidency Project [1].

”We Disagree”

The first test was a fact-checked tweet. “The President had a tweet out last night saying that real wages for the average American worker have — are higher than they were before the — the pandemic. That tweet has now been annotated with a message from the platform, saying that that is not factual,” a reporter said. “Do you welcome that kind of contestation from tech platforms?” [1]

“We disagree,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

Then she moved the starting line. “Well, we disagree because we’re looking at the data from — from February of 2021, and what we’ve seen is that wages have — have gotten stronger, have increased,” she said [1]. The tweet, as the reporter described it, had compared wages with before the pandemic, not with February 2021, after Biden took office.

“We’ve seen that Biden eco- — economi- — Biden — Bidenomics has been really helpful in getting to make sure that we build an economy that leaves the one behind,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

”$475 Billion”

A reporter turned to the administration’s new student loan repayment rules. “So the Penn Wharton Budget Model recalculated costs based on the new rules for the student loan forgiveness. The model now says that those rules will cost an additional $475 billion over the next 10 years,” the reporter said [1].

“So, look, the Department of Education, they estimated this particular piece to cost about $156 billion over the next decade,” Jean-Pierre said. “And let’s not forget we can afford to give middle-class Americans, middle-class families, a little bit of breathing room” [1].

”A 92-Day Supply”

Electric cars came next. “Ford just cut the price of the F-150. Cox Automotive is showing that dealerships now have a 92-day supply of EVs on their lots, which is about twice the average for a gas-powered car on their lot. Is this the marketplace speaking, saying that people don’t want this transition as quickly?” a reporter asked [1].

“So, look, I’ve seen that same study,” Jean-Pierre said. “The EV sales hit a record high last quarter and increased nearly 50 percent from the same time last year” [1].

She credited the subsidies. “And EV prices are actually down 20 percent per year-over-year on average, with EVs that are eligible for the Inflation Reduction Act credits seeing high demand,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

”Sometimes They Get Through”

Kirby took the questions on a Chinese hack of government email, including that of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. “It was an intrusion into Microsoft cloud services on an unclassified level,” he said. “The reason Microsoft knew about it was because we told them about it” [1].

He confirmed the culprit. “We have seen nothing that would cause us to dispute Microsoft’s finding that it was a hacking group out of the PRC,” Kirby said [1].

A reporter noted the response had been “reactive, not proactive.” Kirby said: “Does that mean that you can prevent every single attack of every single nature? No. I mean, it — some — unfortunately, sometimes they get through. But it’s not for lack of trying” [1].

”We’re Glad She Did”

Kirby was also asked about Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who had said that “Israel is a racist state” before walking it back. “We saw that she apologized, and we’re glad she did. We think an apology was the right thing to do for those comments,” Kirby said [1].

”Is the President Satisfied?”

A reporter followed up on the cocaine found in the White House. “You said that it was very important to President Biden that the Secret Service get to the bottom of who brought it into the White House. So can you just talk about his reaction when he learned that the investigation did not end with a suspect?” [1]

“Look, I’m just not going to opine on this, not going to get into specific on this. We believe the Secret Service did a thor- — thorough investigation,” Jean-Pierre said [1].

“So is the President satisfied with the explanation that someone was able to bring an illegal substance into the White House because there are hundreds of people who come here every day?” the reporter asked [1].

“What I will say is that the Secret Service did a thorough investigation. That’s what we believe. They put out a public statement,” Jean-Pierre said. “Anything else detailing any details or any more information, I would reach out to the Secret Service.” [1]

By the Numbers

$475 billion: the added 10-year cost of the new student loan rules, per the Penn Wharton model the reporter cited [1].
$156 billion: the Education Department’s estimate, per Jean-Pierre [1].
92 days: the EV supply on dealer lots, per the Cox Automotive figure the reporter cited [1].
7 million: borrowers still enrolled in the plan when a court ended it in 2026 [2].

What Happened Next

The loan plan died. In December 2025, the Trump administration announced a settlement with Missouri to end the plan, known as SAVE. “For four years, the Biden administration sought to unlawfully shift student loan debt onto American taxpayers, many of whom either never took out a loan to finance their postsecondary education or never even went to college themselves,” Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent said, Fox Business reported [3].

In March 2026, “a federal appeals court on Monday officially finalized the termination of the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan,” Fox Business reported [2].

The EV credit ended. Public Law 119-21, signed by President Donald Trump, ended the clean vehicle credit for vehicles “acquired after September 30, 2025” [4]. For what came next for General Motors, see HYGO News’ page on Biden’s GM story.

For the White House’s first answers on the cocaine, see HYGO News’ page on July 7, 2023, and for more of Jean-Pierre’s answers checked against the record, the Karine Jean-Pierre record page.