Bully Pulpit No More: Jen Psaki's Turn at the Lectern
WASHINGTON Jen Psaki, President Bidens press secretary, may be the most prominent spokeswoman in American politics, but political fame hits different in the post-Trump era. The daily White House briefing, once a highly rated staple of daytime TV, rarely appears anymore on cable news. Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, two former Trump press secretaries, became B-list celebrities; after nine months on the job, Ms. Psaki has not even rated an impersonation on Saturday Night Live. But a cult of Psaki has proliferated online, where clips of her restrained, if occasionally withering exchanges with reporters have established this once obscure political strategist as an unlikely cultural force. Her retorts earn yas queen praise from liberals, while conservatives jeer her attempts at spin, particularly over the past month, when the confluence of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, extreme weather and coronavirus confusion meant the questions were more pointed and the answers more scrutinized.
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Another moment caught fire online this month, as Texas was passing a law that effectively banned abortion in the state. A reporter from a Catholic news service pressed Ms. Psaki on why Mr. Biden, a Catholic, supported abortion rights. He believes that its up to a woman to make those decisions with her doctor, Ms. Psaki replied. I know youve never faced those choices. Nor have you ever been pregnant, but for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing. Crisp and precise in her answers, even if she does not always respond directly to a reporters questions, Ms. Psaki, in her speaking style, is a contrast to Mr. Biden and his circuitous folksiness. In interviews, Washington correspondents often used the word professional high praise in D.C. to describe interactions with her, deeming her straightforward, detail-dense briefings a relief after an era when Mr. Trumps press secretaries repeatedly insulted, denigrated and frequently ignored journalists.
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Mr. Trumps final press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, held infrequent briefings, inadvertently exposed reporters to the coronavirus and was fond of insulting her interlocutors. She once rebuked the CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins during a televised briefing by sneering from the lectern, I dont call on activists.
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A New York Times crossword puzzle from 2017, which featured her name in a clue, ___ Psaki, White House communications director under Obama, is framed above the fireplace. (That puzzle appeared on a Friday, the second hardest of the week; her name popped up again in a Sunday puzzle the widest circulated this past February, perhaps a sign of growing recognition.) Near the crossword is a photograph of Mr. Obama on his hands and knees in the Oval Office with her daughter, then an infant. It was under Mr. Obama that Ms. Psaki rose to prominence, serving as traveling press secretary for his 2008 campaign, becoming chief spokeswoman for Secretary of State John Kerry, and eventually being named the White House communications director. Still, she was twice passed over for press secretary first in 2011 for Jay Carney, then in 2014 for Josh Earnest an experience that Ms. Psaki recently said left her devastated.
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She prepared for her current job through a series of practice briefings held over Zoom last December and January, with Mr. Gibbs and the former Obama press aide Eric Schultz impersonating reporters. I was the one who tried to be like the biggest jerk or whatever, Mr. Gibbs said, though he declined to specify which White House correspondent inspired his performance. You want to get pushed the most and see what happens.
Mr. Gibbs and others said that Ms. Psaki was most concerned with restoring normalcy to the press briefing, a Washington ritual whose credibility was eroded in the Trump years. Stephanie Grisham, one of Mr. Trumps press secretaries, did not hold a single briefing. Her predecessor, Ms. Huckabee Sanders, urged Americans to watch a right-wing propaganda video whether its accurate or not and fabricated an anecdote about F.B.I. agents. It was unusual, and highly deliberate, when Ms. Psaki staged her first formal briefing hours after Mr. Bidens inauguration. Among her first words at the lectern was a pledge to tell the truth even when its hard to hear. Not surprisingly, she has her share of detractors, especially on the right.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/style/jen-psaki-biden-press-secretary.html
Moebym
(989 posts)Of the Cult of Psaki.
PortTack
(32,606 posts)The rights nonsense..and they sink uncomfortably in their chair!!
Enter stage left
(3,389 posts)but psaki second.
The Unmitigated Gall
(3,720 posts)A serious press secretary?
After Spicer, Huckabee and McEnnany?
Fucking hilarious.
Skittles
(152,964 posts)fuck them and their "scrutinizing", fucking Trump humpers
monkeyman1
(5,109 posts)aggiesal
(8,864 posts)and love the reactions of those she's bombing.
Response to question everything (Original post)
Chin music This message was self-deleted by its author.