When you have to work as the White House press secretary, it helps to have a sense of humor. And Jen Psaki has displayed a quick wit and a willingness to diffuse hard questions with an air of levity.
Psaki has made a commitment to giving a briefing nearly every day. And nearly every day, a Conservative reporter tries to take her off her rhythm with a gotcha question.
Monday was no different as John Gizzi asked a wacky question about secret memo’s within Joe Biden infrastructure plan. The Newsmax reporter questioned:
“The other thing on the infrastructure package, there is a private memo that’s being circulated in the business community and to some Republican senators that said that the $2.25 trillion price tag is $1 trillion off. And that there’s many things in there that were omitted in the initial discussion of the bill. This is being circulated on the Hill, do you have any response to the charge that the president low-balled the price tag on the infrastructure bill?”
A bemused Psaki responded, “Sounds mysterious, the memo — the secret memo.” She continued, “We laid out very specifically each component of the package and how much we’re proposing, so I’d encourage y’all to get your calculators out and charge that up and see how it compares to the secret memo.”
John Gizzi is John Gizzi-ing during the White House press briefing pic.twitter.com/PSG25TDFF9
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 5, 2021
While Psaki is quick to rebut claims like those from Gizzi or Peter Doocy, she does so respectfully. Thankfully the days of combative press conferences from Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany are over.
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.
