Jen Psaki’s Biggest Whoppers

AMAC Exclusive – By Louis J. Senn

During her first briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stated that “rebuilding trust with the American people will be central to our focus in the press office and in the White House every single day.” After four years of open hostility from the media toward every member of the Trump White House press team, reporters eagerly awaited the opportunity to fawn over “the adults” that Biden was supposedly putting back in charge.

The reality, however, has been somewhat different. Psaki treats the few reporters who try to press for transparency disrespectfully, and she ignores and pivots away from any question that requires a thoughtful answer (she’ll perhaps be best remembered as the “um, I’ll have to circle back” press secretary).

Predictably, the rest of the media has dutifully turned a blind eye to Psaki’s shifty non-answers and blatant lies. Given how unfairly the White House Press Corps treated Trump’s press secretaries, it’s time to ask: Which is worse, a press secretary who can’t tell the truth or a spineless press that won’t demand that they do? Here’s a look back at just a few of Jen Psaki’s biggest whoppers that the lapdog media swallowed whole.

The Southern Border is “closed”

In March of 2021, Psaki stated in an interview that “the border remains closed. It is not opened.” Yet not only was the border not closed, Biden continued to throw the doors wide open. Early on, the Biden administration claimed that the dramatic spike in border crossings were seasonal increases; however, according to Customs and Border Patrol data, the number of border encounters in March of 2021 was over 400% higher than a year prior under the Trump administration. This was never a seasonal increase, and despite Psaki’s insistence that the border was closed, the numbers only got worse from there. Not until October of 2021 did the number of border crossings fall below March of 2021, and even then only marginally. Well over two million illegal aliens crossed the border last year. So, no, the border was not closed, and Psaki knew it.

Joe Biden saved you “16 cents” on your 4^th of July cookout

In one of the most out-of-touch moments from an out-of-touch administration, the White House Twitter account proudly proclaimed that, thanks to Joe Biden, Americans would save 16 cents on their 4th of July cookout. Psaki was grilled about the tone-deafness of the tweet and responded: “I would say if you don’t like hot dogs, you may not care of the reduction of cost.”

Much of the backlash came due to the fact that, while Americans might be saving 16 cents on the food for their BBQ (itself a dubious claim), the price of gas was more than a dollar higher than it had been one year prior. Moreover, inflationary pressures were already beginning to loom, and the economic recovery begun under President Trump was beginning to stagnate. In short, Biden wasn’t saving anyone anything, and to suggest otherwise was at best misleading.

The White House was targeting “Covid disinformation”

In July of 2021, Psaki announced that the White House was “flagging problematic posts for Facebook that spread disinformation.”  In other words, the government was working directly with Big Tech to silence Americans who refused to toe the party line on Covid-19. Making the Communist Party everywhere proud, everyone with dissenting views was browbeaten into submission at the behest of the White House, even as “the science” changed constantly.

But have no fear – Americans can rest easy knowing that Psaki & Co. will be reviewing our rights to free speech alongside these massive, powerful corporations.

Americans are “not stranded” in Afghanistan

Biden’s disaster in Afghanistan was a wake-up call for many Americans about just how incompetent so many people are within the Biden administration, including his communications team.

Embarrassingly, the worst offense here was not even what Psaki said, but the fact that she was missing entirely, along with the rest of the White House staff. Americans were left watching horrific scenes unfold in Afghanistan while the President and his press secretary were nowhere to be found. Psaki’s email was set for out-of-office notifications. Everyone needs time to relax, but people who serve as the spokesperson for the highest office in the land must be responsive and adaptable. As the saying goes, if you can’t stand the heat…

When she finally returned to the office, Psaki engaged in a string of lies and mischaracterizations intended to obfuscate how bad things really were in Afghanistan. Perhaps the worst example was her assertion that “it’s irresponsible to say, ‘Americans are stranded.’ They are not.” According to Psaki, some Americans wanted to be trapped behind Taliban lines. Both before and after Psaki’s statement, there was no reason to be sure that the American government would be able to protect Americans or its allies in Afghanistan. The State Department even cautioned that it “cannot ensure safe passage to the [Kabul] airport.”  And then, multiple times in the week after Psaki’s statement, they warned any Americans in Kabul to “avoid traveling to the airport.” To this day, some Americans still remain trapped in the country. Perhaps Psaki just didn’t know what the word “stranded” means?

People concerned about crime are living in an “alternate universe.”

In a recent podcast interview, Psaki literally laughed as she said Fox News viewers lived in an “alternate universe” for being concerned about Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies. But it’s Psaki who apparently lives in an alternate universe. Despite the fact that she goes to work every day in a building protected by hundreds of armed guards, crime is spiking in every major American city, thanks in large part to progressive policies and politicians that allow criminals back onto the streets and refuse to prosecute some crimes. Even in her own back yard, the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department has already seen a 22% rise in violent crime this year when compared to the same period last year. 

In Jen Psaki’s universe, there are no consequences for any actions or statements by the White House. The increased crime rates around the country are of no concern to her.

Psaki is allowed to disagree with what a news channel covers. But when she laughs off the urgent realities facing millions of Americans, she highlights the dangerous consequences of her own obliviousness.

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Psaki stated in a CNN interview last year that “I think it’s going to be time for somebody else to have this job in a year from now.” There’s no doubt that being the public face of a presidential administration isn’t an easy task, and press secretaries rarely stick around for an entire four years. It is an arduous job that requires patience, adaptability, commitment to long hours, and, probably most importantly, honesty.

It’s clear by now that Psaki lacks a number of those attributes. But while many Americans likely agree with Psaki that it’s “time for somebody else to have this job,” don’t hold your breath for competency – by all accounts, that’s in short supply in this administration.

Louis J. Senn is a lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky, who previously worked for the Trump Administration.