Psaki Blames Boris for Calling on Press Without Alerting Her

DOOCY: What is your understanding of what transpired in the Oval Office yesterday when we were all in there trying to hear from the president and the prime minister?

PSAKI: Which aspect?

DOOCY: Well, the British prime minister in the American Oval Office called on British reporters, and then when American reporters tried to call on the American president, we were (pause) “escorted out.” Put it that way.

PSAKI: Well, I think in that circumstance — and I think our relationship with the United Kingdom and with Prime Minister Johnson is so strong and abiding, we will be able to move forward beyond this. But uh, he calls on individuals, uh, from his press corps, uh, without alerting us to that intention in advance.

BUCK: How dare he call on individuals in his press corps without alerting Psaki Bomb in advance! I suppose that we’re supposed to take that as a justification for shouting — not only shouting down reporters asking Joe Biden, the president, a question, Clay. But also interrupting Boris Johnson, who say what you will, the guy does have a fancy accent so at least it’s fun to hear him sort of (impression) “talk about all the things.”

They’re telling us, he had to alert them beforehand? You think they could roll with things a little bit more in this Oval Office except we know what’s really going on here. Especially when there’s a problem, Clay, that they’re dealing with.

When they know this border situation. All it takes is Joe Biden… Remember the comment he made about Haiti sinking into the Caribbean. All it takes is for Joe Biden to say one really stupid thing and Psaki’s got “clean up on aisle five” the rest of the days.

CLAY: I love… What did she say? “Which aspect?” like just such a… We play just the opening one more time about that clip? She knows what the question is. Hey, you shoved the entire White House press corps out during the Boris Johnson and then Joe Biden media availability.

Listen. This is just… I’m trying to think of who it reminds me of. It’s like she reminds me of a really mean teacher who is just totally the kind of person who back in the day — I don’t know if they still paddle kids or not — would just kind of stand up there with the paddle in her hand kind of hitting it.

BUCK: I think you’re not supposed to paddle kids anymore.

CLAY: You know what, I think in the South they still paddle kids.

BUCK: Really?

CLAY: Oh, yeah, I think so. When I was in school kids got paddled all the time down here. But listen — you know what question he’s asking. We just need to hear the open, and she says kind of saucily and like disrespectfully and disdainfully, which aspect? Listen to this.

DOOCY: What is your understanding of what transpired in the Oval Office yesterday when we were all in there trying to hear from the president and the prime minister?

PSAKI: Which aspect?

DOOCY: Well, the British prime minister in the American Oval Office —

CLAY: You can stop it. Which aspect!

BUCK: There’s also a context here. And the context is, this isn’t the only time even last week when reporters whose job it is is to be able to ask the president questions — That’s really the White House press corps’ job.

CLAY: That’s why they get paid.

BUCK: They do that. They ask the president, they ask Jen Psaki, maybe some other officials questions. That’s what they do. And they keep having these handlers that are like, “Okay, okay, okay! Everyone shut up, shut up, shut up! Go, go, go, go, go,” and everyone realizes that’s a very weird thing to do to the press corps.

We have to point this stuff out even though sometimes it feels like we’re broken records on it. Could you imagine if the Trump administration, when Trump was having a bad week about the Russia collusion lies they told about him or something, right? Remember when that was, “Oh, Russia collusion,” and someone asked Trump a question about that and you had White House personnel under that administration shouting down reporters and shoving them out of the room?

CLAY: Shoving them out!

BUCK: CNN had a reporter who lost his hard pass for a day, which meant that he’d have to actually give his ID and get signed like everyone else who goes to the White House and is not given special privileges and access as a reporter. And it was like a national crisis. We were all supposed to be crying our eyes out about it.

CLAY: The First Amendment was under siege when CNN had its credentialing questioned in any way during the Trump White House. When Psaki basically turns into a nose tackle along with the White House communications staff and bulldozes people completely out of the Oval Office ’cause they can’t respond to questions.

And also, it just further elucidates to me the feeble nature of Joe Biden’s leadership, that Boris Johnson is comfortable taking questions inside of the Oval Office from his own media, and our White House press corps is so terrified of Joe Biden taking questions that they bulldoze everybody out of the Oval Office so that Biden can’t respond to any questions.

BUCK: They’re one bad Biden statement away from having to spend a few days convincing any… Look, there are some, as we always talk about — 30%, maybe 35%, maybe even 40 — of the American people who will be happy with the Joe Biden presidency. Although it isn’t 43% overall right now that approve of this. So we’re —

CLAY: In the latest Gallup poll, 43%, support Joe Biden. If I’m right about 40-40, basically you have 40 who are gonna support you no matter what you do, 40 who are gonna hate you no matter what you do, Joe Biden basically has drained down to the only die-hards who are still supporting him.

BUCK: So there’s gonna be this faction that no matter what he says… Joe Biden could walk out to the podium with nothing but a T-shirt on and his socks and his tighty whities and there are members of the Democratic Party, the White House press corps who would say, “It’s just Joe being Joe, everybody. It’s no big deal.” Joe could start…

CLAY: It’s refreshing to see the president without the suit on, what he really looks like.

BUCK: He could wander offstage muttering about how he has to go feed the pigeons or something and they would all be talking about: Tthis is Joe Biden is a great leader who can show his human side. It doesn’t matter what he does. But to people that are paying attention and can be persuaded that this was a really bad idea to foist this guy after the hiding-in-the-basement presidential campaign on the American people.

He’s just one bad statement away from losing even more of them, and I think that that means that Jen Psaki’s got quite job here. You say you’re Neo from The Matrix avoiding all this stuff all the time? Anybody that works in this White House has to be constantly maneuvering around the possibility of a Joe Biden flub.

CLAY: Which aspect, Buck!