{"id":124215,"date":"2021-02-11T07:16:57","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T12:16:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=124215"},"modified":"2021-02-11T07:58:01","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T12:58:01","slug":"rocky-psaki-new-white-house-press-secretary-off-to-bumpy-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rocky-psaki-new-white-house-press-secretary-off-to-bumpy-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocky Psaki: New White House Press Secretary Off To Bumpy Start"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frocky-psaki-new-white-house-press-secretary-off-to-bumpy-start%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=124215&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/GettyImages-1230854356.jpg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Jen Psaki, a veteran political spokesman who served in the Obama White House as a deputy press secretary, is off to a rocky start in her new and improved role.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s only been at her post of White House press secretary for three weeks, but Psaki has already been hit for reportedly soliciting journalists for the questions they\u2019ll be asking in the daily briefing, clashed with a couple reporters in testy exchanges and been lampooned for her repeated dodges with a vow that she\u2019ll \u201ccircle back.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Psaki\u2019s tenure kicked off as many others have, with the incoming spokesman declaring on Day 1 that she would be transparent from the briefing room podium and expects a vigorous back-and-forth with the journalists who cover the White House for a living.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere will be times when we see things differently in this room \u2014 I mean, among all of us. That\u2019s OK. That\u2019s part of our democracy. And rebuilding trust with the American people will be central to our focus in the Press Office and in the White House every single day,\u201d Psaki said.<\/p>\n<p>But on just her first full day, Psaki lit some fireworks. Hours earlier, President Biden had signed an executive order mandating the wearing of COVID-protection masks on all federal property \u2014 but then the president and others visited the Lincoln Memorial and were seen posing for pictures without masks.<\/p>\n<p>Psaki defended Mr. Biden as \u201ccelebrating an evening of a historic day in our country, and certainly he signed the mask mandate because it was a way to send a message to the American public about the importance of wearing masks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The reporter followed up. \u201cBut as Joe Biden often talks about, it is not just important the \u2018example of power\u2019 but the \u2018power of our example.\u2019 Was that a good example for people who are watching who might not pay attention normally?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A slightly miffed Psaki said, \u201cI don\u2019t think \u2014 I think we have big \u2014 bigger issues to worry about at this moment in time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then 10 days into her new gig, a report emerged that said she was quietly soliciting questions from journalists about what they planned to ask during the daily briefing \u2014 a big no-no.<\/p>\n<p>The Daily Beast on Feb. 1 published a story headlined: \u201cWhite House Reporters: Biden Team Wanted Our Questions in Advance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAccording to three sources with knowledge of the matter, as well as written communications reviewed by The Daily Beast, the new president\u2019s communications staff have already on occasion probed reporters to see what questions they plan on asking new White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki when called upon during briefings,\u201d the story said.<\/p>\n<p>White House reporters voiced their displeasure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe press can\u2019t really do its job in the briefing room if the White House is picking and choosing the questions they want,\u201d one anonymous White House correspondent told the Daily Beast. \u201cThat\u2019s not really a free press at all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives quickly hit Psaki.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe left demands 100 percent loyalty from the press, not the 99 percent they already get,\u201d Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor told Fox News. \u201cIn today\u2019s cancel culture, journalists don\u2019t dare be open in their criticism, so that\u2019s why this story is all whispers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Feb. 2, Psaki got combative with a reporter. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen a readout of the president talking to President Xi [Jingping of China]. And I was wondering if there\u2019s something scheduled or when that might be,\u201d the reporter asked.<\/p>\n<p>Psaki dodged the question, prompting the reporter to say, \u201cit sounds a lot like the strategy is not to talk to him at this time because you\u2019re talking about speaking to allies and making other calls first. Is \u2014 have they requested a call?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have anything more for you,\u201d Psaki said testily. \u201cI think \u2014 I don\u2019t appreciate the, like, putting words in my mouth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And just on Monday, Psaki battled with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy, who asked about the Keystone XL pipeline \u2014 which Mr. Biden canceled on his first day in office, eliminating an estimated 11,000 jobs. Mr. Biden has promised those workers would get \u201cgreen jobs,\u201d and Mr. Doocy asked: \u201cWhere is it that they can go for their green job?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, I\u2019d certainly welcome you to present your data of all the thousands and thousands of people who won\u2019t be getting a green job,\u201d Psaki said dismissively. \u201cMaybe next time you\u2019re here you can present that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But Psaki dug herself out of the hole, saying vaguely that Mr. Biden \u201chas every plan to share more details on that plan in the weeks ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Spoken like a true pro. But so far, for the record, Psaki has yet to \u201ccircle back\u201d with more information.<\/p>\n<p><em>*Joseph Curl covered the White House for a dozen years and ran the Drudge Report for four years. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter at @JosephCurl. A version of this article ran previously in The Washington Times.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/span><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em><span>member<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jen Psaki, a veteran political spokesman who served in the Obama White House as a deputy press secretary, is off to a rocky start in her new and improved role. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1893172,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3653,4604,3810,6345,3779,3765],"class_list":["post-124215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-house","tag-press","tag-psaki","tag-rocky","tag-secretary","tag-white"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}