The Sneering Liberalism of Jen Psaki

AMAC Exclusive – By Seamus Brennan

As domestic and foreign policy crises escalate and questions regarding Joe Biden’s political viability leading up to the 2024 presidential election continue to hang over the heads of D.C. Democrats, one of the central figures of the Biden administration is preparing to jump ship. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, the public face of the thus-far tumultuous Biden presidency, is gearing up to depart the briefing room and head to left-wing cable news channel MSNBC as early as May, where she is expected to host her own show.

For many Americans, Psaki has come to personify the elitist condescension and out-of-touch arrogance of Biden-era progressivism. When she arrived at the White House in January 2021, she promised 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”—earning her praise from the usual suspects in the mainstream media. CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter, for instance, tweeted “How Refreshing” over an image of a CNN chyron that read “Psaki Promises to Share ‘Accurate Info.’” White House correspondent Brian Karem similarly fawned over Psaki for her supposed mastery of “subtlety and professionalism.” The phrase “Psaki Bomb,” used by her supporters to celebrate some of her contentious comments from the White House podium, regularly trended on Twitter.

As Isaac Schorr and Brittany Bernstein of National Review put it, “When Psaki began her gig as White House press secretary, she was invincible.”

But as the Biden administration quickly plunged into an enduring state of crisis and chaos, any “subtlety and professionalism” Psaki may have had last January seems to have quickly evaporated. Time and time again, Psaki has waved off questions about real issues facing Americans from reporters—often with a heavy dose of scorn and sarcasm.

In a January appearance on liberal podcast Pod Save America, for example, Psaki dismissed anyone concerned about soaring crime rates in cities governed by Democrats as living in an “alternate universe.” Last October, as the supply chain crisis reached its apex, she laughed off a question about imperiled food and medical supplies as “the tragedy of the treadmill that’s delayed.” When asked about inflation, she smugly assured reporters that it “will ease over time, whatever you want to call it.”

In March 2021, at which point encounters with illegal immigrants were 400 percent higher than they had been in March 2020 under the Trump administration, Psaki sought to gaslight Americans into thinking that “the border remains closed. It is not open.” Furthermore, last July, the White House press office bragged that the cost of a Fourth of July cookout was 16 cents cheaper than the previous year—turning a blind eye to skyrocketing gas prices and other out-of-control price increases which have since continued to worsen.

Moreover, during the Biden administration’s botched Afghanistan pullout last August (for much of which Psaki had been on vacation), she bizarrely claimed that Americans were “not stranded” in Afghanistan—even when an alarming number of Americans were, in fact, verifiably stranded. And in perhaps her most tone-deaf comment as press secretary to date, Psaki urged Americans frustrated with the state of the country under the Biden administration to “feel those emotions, go to a kickboxing class and have a margarita.”

Psaki’s pattern of sneering at reporters who dare question the administration’s narrative has only intensified since the news of her impending departure from the White House broke this spring. Earlier this month, she appeared at a Pod Save America event at the Wharf in Washington, D.C., where she doubled down on Biden’s statement that Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy is “stupid son of a b****.” “He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b****,” she said.

In many ways, it is difficult to imagine a better avatar of today’s Democratic Party than Jen Psaki.

Even CNN has taken note of Psaki’s attitude shift. “Remember in senior year, spring of your senior year, you’re about to graduate and you’re just tired of all this?” asked Brian Stelter—yes, the same Brian Stelter who once lauded Psaki for her “refreshing” competence (and who routinely criticized the Trump administration for the apparent existential threat it posed to a free press). “I think we’re seeing that from Jen Psaki.” Even the Biden administration’s lackeys in the liberal media apparently can’t ignore how downright mean and hostile Psaki has become.

But as Biden’s polling continues to hit new record lows while the nation grapples with 40-year-high inflation and awaits yet another catastrophic spring and summer along the southern border, Psaki’s “senioritis” is the last thing the Biden administration needs.

As Spencer Klavan put it in an American Mind column, Psaki “is a perfect representative of our spiteful ruling class.” Although she herself may soon be on her way out the door, her contempt for the concerns, needs, and values of everyday Americans is, unfortunately, unlikely to go anywhere anytime soon, at least as long as the man who empowered her with the job of Press Secretary in the first place remains the occupant of the Oval Office.