Doocy Questions Psaki About Video of Biden Kissing Covid-Infected Pelosi
Fox’s Peter Doocy questioned White House claims that President Joe Biden had not been in “close contact” with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in the days ahead of her testing positive for covid.
Doocy asked press secretary Jen Psaki about a now-viral video showing Pelosi kissing Biden on the cheek at a White House event, just two days before Pelosi’s positive Covid-19 test was revealed. The White House released a statement that the president only had “brief interactions over the course of the last two days” with the Speaker.
“How can you guys say that President Biden was not in close contact with Speaker Pelosi when there is video of the Speaker kissing him?” Doocy asked at Thursday’s briefing.
Psaki said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines close contact as “15 minutes of contact within a set period of time, and within six feet.”
“It did not meet that bar,” said Psaki.
“It does not mean that no one will get Covid around the world who does not have a close contact,” Psaki said. “It just means that we are defining for all of you whether the president and their interaction met the definition of a ‘close contact.'”
Also present at the event were former President Barack Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris, and numerous others, which led to a follow-up from Doocy.
“Half the cabinet was there Tuesday,” he said, pointing out two of the guests are also infected with covid. “Is there a threat that this is going to be a national security problem?”
Psaki said that she doesn’t know for sure the cabinet members contracted covid specifically at that exact event.
Doocy pointed out that when Donald Trump had an event for the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Joe Biden blasted it as a “super-spreader” event.
“So is there any risk that this event tomorrow for a Biden Supreme Court now-Justice is going to be a super-spreader event?” he asked.
Psaki claimed the current administration is in a “different space” thanks to vaccines and added that the event will take place outside.
Trump’s event also took place outside, and although it was prior to the availability of the vaccines, it did not turn into a “super spreader” event despite a great deal of cable news air time being dedicated to worrying or predicting it would.
