‘Awesome Socks!’ And Other Absurd Moments From Biden Spox Jen Psaki’s Briefings This Week

By Tommy ChristopherMar 27th, 2021, 3:37 pm
 

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held three briefings and one Air Force One gaggle this week, more than enough opportunities for the good, bad, and ugly moments that often result in the dropping of #PsakiBombs.

#PsakiBomb is the term coined by Psaki Pstans for the politely cutting way the press secretary dispenses with bad faith or false questions, and this week had quite a few, along with other memorable moments.

The epic TAIL of Major Biden spilled into a third week when Psaki was asked if the First Dog had returned to the White House.

Psaki subtly shaded the original overhyped reporting as she confirmed the pooch’s return, telling reporters “I was waiting for this to come up,” and answered, “Champ and Major are here at the White House, they joined the first family at Camp David last weekend and returned with them on Sunday. The dogs will come and go, and it will not be uncommon for them to head back to Delaware on occasion, as the president and first lady often do as well.”

Psaki also had some fun at the White House press corps’ expense with a pair of quips ahead of the big presser, asking “Do you want to tell me your questions? I’ll take those down,” and telling them that the president was preparing for the presser by “Looking at your Twitters and seeing what’s on your mind.”

In what is becoming a disturbingly regular feature, a reporter just came out and asked Psaki if the Biden administration should quit being so damn humane to migrant children. She stubbornly stuck to that whole “humane and moral” thing.

Psaki got #PsakiBombed herself when soccer stars Megan Rapinoe and Margaret Purce visited the briefing room this week, and Rapinoe did a dead-on impression of the press secretary’s well-known promise to “circle back.”

Speaking of circling back, Psaki had a rejoinder when the NRA attacked her this week over gun control, using the nickname “Circle Back Psaki.”

“Badge of honor that the @NRA is randomly attacking me about a tweet from more than a year ago,” she wrote.

The White House press got a lot of deserved flak this week for failing to ask President Joe Biden about the coronavirus pandemic during his press conference, but Psaki had a decent explanation: she and Biden already told them everything.

“Maybe it’s because we have the president out there, and we talk about it so much, but I was surprised there wasn’t more about that topic earlier in the press conference,” Psaki told Lawrence O’Donnell.

Psaki was asked by another reporter if it’s the Biden administration’s policy to exclude Fox News from being called on at events like President Biden’s press conference, in a contentious exchange that included Psaki demanding a “YES OR NO?!?” and concluded with Psaki complimenting the reporter’s “awesome socks.”

It was at least the second time Psaki included a compliment while jousting with this reporter. Fox News later showed a picture of the aforementioned socks, thankfully not in smell-o-vision.

And finally, an honorary #PsakiBomb goes to President Biden, who had an appropriately incredulous reaction when he was asked multiple times whether he’d be running for president in 2024, and if he was still going to run with Vice President Kamala Harris on his ticket.

Let’s see what next week brings.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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