WSJ Reports MBS “Regularly Mocks Biden in Private, Questioning His Mental Acuity” — KJP Calls Reports “Ridiculous,” Reporter Asks “Which Statements Are Ridiculous?”

On 10/24/2022, a reporter asked White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about a Wall Street Journal report, citing people inside the Saudi government, that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman “regularly mocks the President in private, making fun of his gaffes and questioning his mental acuity” and preferred former President Trump to Biden. KJP initially said “I don’t have any comments on that,” then returned to call the reports “ridiculous statements” she wouldn’t “give anymore light.” A reporter immediately asked the devastating follow-up: “Which statements are ridiculous?” — forcing KJP to clarify whether she meant MBS’s mockery was ridiculous, or the reporting was ridiculous, or Biden’s gaffes were ridiculous. She refused to elaborate.

The Wall Street Journal Report

The reporter laid out the Journal’s findings. “Earlier today, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people inside the Saudi government, essentially saying that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman regularly mocks the President in private, making fun of his gaffes and questioning his mental acuity,” the reporter said. “The report also noted that MBS preferred former President Trump to President Biden.”

The WSJ report was significant for several reasons. First, the sourcing — “people inside the Saudi government” — suggested the mockery was either real and being deliberately leaked, or was disinformation being planted to embarrass Biden. Either scenario was damaging: if true, it meant the leader of America’s most important Middle Eastern ally held the president in contempt; if planted, it meant the Saudis were willing to publicly humiliate Biden as a diplomatic tool.

Second, the substance of the mockery — Biden’s “gaffes” and “mental acuity” — touched the most sensitive subject in American politics. The questions about Biden’s cognitive fitness that domestic critics had raised for two years were apparently being discussed openly in foreign royal courts. America’s adversaries and allies alike were assessing the president’s mental capacity and, according to the Journal, finding it lacking.

Third, the preference for Trump was a diplomatic slight with policy implications. Biden had traveled to Saudi Arabia in July 2022 specifically to mend the relationship and secure oil production commitments. MBS’s reported preference for Trump suggested the trip — which Biden took despite having pledged to make Saudi Arabia a “pariah” — had not achieved its diplomatic objectives.

”I Don’t Have Any Comments”

KJP’s initial response was a flat refusal. “I don’t have any comments on that,” KJP said — a remarkable non-response to a report that a key U.S. ally was mocking the president’s mental fitness.

The “no comment” approach to a foreign leader’s alleged ridicule of the president was unusual. Previous administrations had typically responded to reports of foreign disrespect with firm statements defending the president’s capabilities and warning against underestimating American leadership. KJP’s silence left the impression that the White House either couldn’t dispute the report or didn’t want to draw further attention to the subject of Biden’s mental acuity.

The “Ridiculous” Reversal

Later in the briefing, KJP returned to the question unprompted — apparently having received guidance or decided the “no comment” response was insufficient. “So let me actually say something about your first question,” KJP said. “I’m not going to comment about, you know, kind of ridiculous statements. I’m not going to comment on that.”

The word “ridiculous” created immediate ambiguity. What exactly was ridiculous? The reporter’s question? The WSJ’s reporting? MBS’s alleged comments? The idea that Biden had gaffes? The suggestion that his mental acuity was impaired?

“But I’ll be very clear: The President has been very clear from the beginning of this administration that we needed to review our relationship with Saudi Arabia,” KJP added — pivoting to the U.S.-Saudi relationship rather than addressing the mental acuity mockery.

”Which Statements Are Ridiculous?”

A reporter immediately seized on the ambiguity. “Which statements are ridiculous?” the reporter asked — a perfectly constructed follow-up that forced KJP to specify what she was dismissing.

“I’m not going to give it anymore light. I’m just saying that more broadly,” KJP said, refusing to clarify.

The refusal to specify was itself revealing. If KJP had meant that MBS’s alleged mockery was ridiculous, she could have said: “The suggestion that any foreign leader questions this president’s mental acuity is ridiculous — he is sharp, engaged, and in command.” If she meant the WSJ’s sourcing was ridiculous, she could have said: “The Wall Street Journal’s anonymous sourcing from the Saudi government is not credible reporting.”

Instead, she used “ridiculous” as a blanket dismissal and then refused to apply it to anything specific — leaving every possible interpretation open while appearing to have responded.

The Biden-MBS Relationship

The report came at a particularly low point in U.S.-Saudi relations. Biden had campaigned on making Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He then reversed course and traveled to Jeddah in July 2022, producing the widely photographed fist bump with MBS that critics viewed as capitulation.

The trip was supposed to yield Saudi commitments to increase oil production — helping Biden address the gas price crisis before midterms. Instead, OPEC+ (led by Saudi Arabia and Russia) announced a 2-million-barrel-per-day production cut in October 2022 — the largest cut since the pandemic and a move widely interpreted as a deliberate rebuke of Biden’s diplomatic overture.

The WSJ report of MBS privately mocking Biden added personal insult to the policy injury. The president had sacrificed his stated principles to meet with MBS, received nothing in return on oil production, and was now — according to the Journal — being laughed at behind closed doors by the man he had sought to appease.

The Mental Acuity Question

MBS’s alleged focus on Biden’s “mental acuity” and “gaffes” reflected a concern that was not limited to Saudi royal circles. By October 2022, Biden’s verbal stumbles had become a running catalog: confusing his wife for the vice president, claiming his son Beau died in Iraq rather than of cancer at Walter Reed, reading teleprompter instructions aloud, getting lost on stage after speeches, and producing garbled sentences that defied parsing.

The White House’s consistent strategy was to refuse to engage with questions about the president’s fitness — treating any such inquiry as illegitimate, politically motivated, or disrespectful. KJP’s response to the MBS report followed the same pattern: dismiss the question, refuse to elaborate, and move on.

But the MBS dimension added a foreign policy urgency the domestic debate lacked. If foreign leaders genuinely believed the American president was cognitively compromised, it affected their willingness to negotiate in good faith, their assessment of American deterrence credibility, and their calculations about testing American resolve. A president perceived as mentally diminished by allies and adversaries alike was a national security concern, not merely a political talking point.

Key Takeaways

The WSJ reported that MBS “regularly mocks Biden in private, making fun of his gaffes and questioning his mental acuity” and preferred Trump.
KJP initially said “I don’t have any comments,” then returned to call the reports “ridiculous statements” without specifying what was ridiculous.
A reporter asked “Which statements are ridiculous?” — KJP refused to clarify, saying “I’m not going to give it anymore light.”
The report came after Biden’s failed diplomatic trip to Saudi Arabia was followed by OPEC+‘s largest production cut since the pandemic.
The White House’s refusal to engage with the mental acuity question — whether raised domestically or internationally — left the impression it couldn’t be refuted.

Transcript Highlights

The following is transcribed from the video audio (unverified — AI-generated from audio).

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman regularly mocks the president in private, making fun of his gaffes and questioning his mental acuity.
MBS preferred former President Trump to President Biden. I wonder if you had any reaction.
I don’t have any comments on that.
I’m not going to comment about, you know, kind of ridiculous statements.
The president has been very clear that we needed to review our relationship with Saudi Arabia.
Which? — I’m not going to give it anymore light. I’m just saying that more broadly.

Full transcript: 138 words transcribed via Whisper AI.