Standing at the podium as part of a White House forum on food and hunger, President Joe Biden began working through the list of people to thank. He made it bipartisan. He thanked several Republicans and got to his friend Jackie. “Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie?” Biden asked. Jackie is Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana who died over a month ago in a car crash. There is no good way to consider what happened.
Biden knew Walorski died. He mentioned it over a month ago. He is about to sign legislation, with her family present, to rename a VA hospital in her honor. His press secretary said the deceased congresswoman is “top of mind” for Biden because he knew he would be spending time with her family later in the week. If she really was top of mind, shouldn’t he have known she could not be present at the event?