The White House daily press briefing Tuesday was anything but routine.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre interrupted a reporter’s question and brought the briefing to a brief halt to deal with an emergency as a woman near the back of the room apparently fainted.
“We have an emergency.”@PressSec: “Did somebody pass out?”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rushes from the podium to assist a reporter who fainted during the press briefing. pic.twitter.com/laD1j7a0Bo
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 18, 2024
“Did somebody pass out?” Jean-Pierre asked, leaving her customary podium and heading toward the back of the room.
Someone just passed out in the White House Briefing Room during the press briefing. KJP stops briefing to check things out. pic.twitter.com/LmkmveY9qZ
— Ginjie (@breauxbot) June 18, 2024
The woman had been standing in the back of the room, according to Mediaite.
In a post on the social media platform X, Kellie Meyer, White House correspondent for the conservative news outlet NewsNation, reported that a medical team was called in.
During today’s White House press briefing @PressSec stopped the briefing when a woman fainted in the back of the room. KJP immediately went to the back and got her water. A medical team came in. The woman is ok she got lightheaded I’m told and the briefing room is warm today.
— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) June 18, 2024
The woman was not identified, but she was in the area of the room occupied by reporters.
“We have an emergency,” a participant in the room said, according to Fox News.
WHITE HOUSE PRESS BRIEFING.. EMERGENCY JUST HAPPENED..SOMEONE PAST OUT.. PICTURES BELOW 👇👇👇👇👇👇😷😷😷😷😷😷😷☣️☢️😷😷😷😷😷 pic.twitter.com/qfKU02zZRu
— mark warling (@markwarling3) June 18, 2024
Medical responders were called to assist the woman and Jean-Pierre herself gave her water, Meyer reported.
Her condition was not released.
While it wasn’t clear what caused the problem, it came on a day when the temperature in Washington was in the 90s, according to Fox.
The briefing room was crowded, as the video shows, and Meyer’s social media post noted that it was “warm.”
When she returned to the podium, Jean-Pierre asked if anyone in the room needed water, according to Fox.