Gang of White House Reporters Grill Psaki About Biden Covid Risk at Events: He’s ‘Right Up In Their Mugs’
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was peppered with questions about President Joe Biden’s Covid risk after a series of events at which he was “right up in” people’s “mugs.”
On Thursday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi became the latest in a line of people who have tested positive for Covid after being close to the president, who mingled maskless at several White House events this week.
At Thursday’s press briefing, no fewer than nine different reporters asked dozens of questions about the spread of Covid among people who have been close to the president and Vice President Kamala Harris, and the potential risk to the president. One reporter even felt compelled to apologetically tell Psaki “I have a non-COVID question, I swear” — but still asked a Covid question first.
The grilling was exemplified by this detailed exchange with NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander:
MR. ALEXANDER: So, given, you said, it’s not — it doesn’t necessarily take 15 minutes to get COVID — right? So it could take less than that. Obviously, he was around Nancy Pelosi and many others. Are you doing anything differently? Is there anything being done differently, given that circumstance for the President?
MS. PSAKI: He was tested last night and tested negative. And if his doctor deems he should be tested more frequently, he certainly could do that.
MR. ALEXANDER: But if just, for example —
MS. PSAKI: But, again, the CDC guidelines are in place. And the CDC specifics on what a close contact and how it’s defined are in place for a reason: to give everybody clear, data-driven guidance.
MR. ALEXANDER: It is clear, but it’s not always accurate, right? Because it doesn’t take 15 minutes to get COVID, and this is more transmissible — this latest variant — than other variants in the past. It doesn’t necessarily require that much time.
For example, yesterday we were in the State Dining Room. The President was face to face with many individuals, right up in their mugs, for extended periods of time because he was enjoying this moment — a chance to visit with folks.
So, for clarity, not everybody in that room was tested in advance of arriving. Correct?
MS. PSAKI: Correct.
MR. ALEXANDER: So, some of those people who may have been further back but ultimately had, I don’t know, five minutes — we watched for an hour, literally — in the room may not have been with him for 15 minutes, but could have been in his face having not been tested for an extended period of time.
MS. PSAKI: Well, again, if individuals are within six feet of him for 15 minutes or more, that’s considered a close contact. No one in there was, that I’m aware of.
MR. ALEXANDER: Ketanji Brown Jackson tested negative before her visit today, I trust.
MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any more details on Ketanji Brown Jackson’s testing protocols.
Watch above via The White House and NBC News.
