(NewsNation) — On the day that President Joe Biden announced his reelection bid, when his team is supposed to be projecting strength and certainty about a victory and four more years, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked the most basic of questions about whether her boss would serve his entire second term if reelected.

It’s sort of a softball question if there ever was one, except nothing it seems, is quite enough of a softball for this press secretary.

A reporter asked: “Does the president plan to serve all eight years?”

“I’m just not going to get ahead of the president. That’s something for him to decide. I’m just not going to get ahead of it. And where there’s a 2024 campaign, anything related to that, I would refer you to that,” Jean-Pierre answered.

Something for the president to decide? With Biden’s age and his mental acuity very much an issue — he’s even talked about it — that’s the wrong answer.

So, of course, there was a cleanup to be done. Jean-Pierre referred to her own comment in a tweet.

“As you know, we take following the law seriously. So I wanted to be sure that I didn’t go into 2024 more than is appropriate under the law,” Jean-Pierre said in a tweet after Tuesday’s news briefing. “But I can confirm that if re-elected, @POTUS would serve all 8 years.”

She appears to be referencing the Hatch Act, which is a federal law that limits political activities of federal employees, particularly the executive branch. But answering the question wouldn’t have violated that law regardless. She answered it by saying that’s something for him to decide.

Look, the media had a well-deserved field day with the White House fumbles and stumbles on whether Biden will serve a second term. But, what’s worse for Biden is her answer inadvertently put his age and mental fitness back into the news cycle.

We’ve covered Jean-Pierre’s weakness as a press secretary before, and one has to wonder how she is still doing this job. She can’t seem to give straight, clear answers.

The facts she has to work with sometimes aren’t great. But that doesn’t explain it.

Jean-Pierre seems like a very smart person who has achieved a lot at a comparatively young age. She just isn’t good at this job. It’s astonishing to me that with so much on the line, they keep letting her do it.

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