Jen Psaki recently announced that she will be stepping down from her current role as White House press secretary in 2022. As she crosses the 100-day mark of her role, it’s clear that Psaki wants out of this role. She has been notoriously known for “circling back,” avoiding particular questions, and only answering reporters from specific media outlets.
She shared in a recent interview with former Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod that “in a year from now” she’ll be leaving her role. Axelrod is now a senior political commentator for CNN. Psaki had previously served as Communications Director under President Obama.
“When I talked to the inner circle of the Biden orbit about this, we talked about coming in and doing this job for a year and which was quite appealing to me for many reasons. I was the White House communications director, I’ve served in lots of different roles. I think it’s going to be time for somebody else to have this job, in a year from now or about a year from now. It’s a great job, it’s amazing, yes it will be hard but I also never thought I’d be here and I also love my kids a lot,” Psaki said.
Fox News reporter Peter Doocy has confronted Psaki numerous times over her unclear answers regarding immigration issues, gun control, and other hot topics at hand. Other reporters have also called out the press secretary for her unclear answers. “Does Jen Psaki ever produce an answer later in the week when she says she’ll ‘circle back,” tweeted Washington Times columnist Tim Young.
When Psaki isn’t “circling back,” she’s blaming everything on Trump. She even blamed the recent surge of immigration on the previous administration, claiming that they had “an immigration system rooted in destructive and chaotic policies.” She said they were trying to reunite the families that had been separated by the previous administration and that President Biden “inherited a broken system.”
Psaki has also made a ton of strange claims in attempts to clean up President Biden’s gaffes and backtrack things he’s said. In a recent press briefing, she claimed that President Biden’s statements on immigration “do not represent the administration” as a whole. She was referencing the President’s use of the word “crisis” in regards to the surge of migrant children crossing the country’s southern border.
President Biden also made claims that people are allowed to buy guns at gun shows without being subjected to a background check, in which Psaki quickly denied the statement and said that the President “doesn’t believe that.”
She was also under fire her second week at the briefing podium when mocking the U.S Military regarding Space Force as the “plane of today.” She quickly tweeted her respect for their work.
Between “circling back” and struggling to provide clear answers about several major issues, the media has been incredibly displeased with Psaki’s role in the administration. She has held daily press briefings with reporters that average one hour in length.
Previous press secretaries have held fewer briefings because former President Donald Trump spoke directly with reporters every day. Biden has done limited press conferences and rarely takes questions from reporters. After campaigning on an “open and transparent administration,” Biden is doing anything but.
In the same interview, Psaki notes that Biden is told to stay away from reporters and not to take impromptu questions, saying “that is not something we recommend.” She also told Axelrod that she never envisioned herself returning to the White House after working with the Obama Administration and that she will be leaving soon to spend more time with her young children.
“I have little kids and I don’t want to miss time with them. And, you know, my daughter is going into kindergarten. I have a lot of years with her, but she’s kind of a magical unicorn. And I don’t want to miss moments. I don’t want to miss things,” Psaki said.
Must be a hard job to cover up for others all day. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.