Jen Psaki Hits Back at Kevin McCarthy Over Accusation of ‘Downplaying’ Terrorism in Synagogue Attack
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki hit back at House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy over his accusation that the Biden administration “downplayed” the terrorism aspect of this weekend’s hostage standoff at a synagogue in Texas.
On Tuesday night, Psaki posted a tweet directed at McCarthy, taking on a statement he’d made earlier that day.
“Video can be inconvenient when attempting to launch a political attack,” Psaki wrote, retweeting a former Obama official who tweeted a video of President Joe Biden and wrote:
@POTUS makes it crystal clear that the antisemitic attack in Colleyville was an act of terror.
Predictably, Kevin McCarthy ignores this fact & pushes Benghazi-like false narratives about Biden’s view.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Video can be inconvenient when attempting to launch a political attack.. https://t.co/g3NaGliNIC
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) January 19, 2022
The video featured Biden’s remarks on Saturday’s hostage standoff, which ended late that night without fatalities. after a man identified as Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen, held four people hostage at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas,
At the outset of his remarks, Biden says he has spoken with the FBI, then calls the attack an “act of terror” twice:
I spoke this morning with the Attorney General and — to get a rundown. He said there’s overwhelming cooperation with the local authorities and the FBI, and they did one hell of a job.
This was an act of terror. This was an act of terror.
Those remarks were made on Sunday morning.
McCarthy’s statement, released Tuesday, said that “Over the past 48 hours, President Biden’s Justice Department has gone from denying the clear and religious, anti-Semitic implications of this attack to now backtracking to what we all already knew to be true. Now as more information becomes available, it only raises more questions,” questions which included “Why were Biden officials downplaying terrorist attacks within our borders?”
The statement concluded “The Biden administration must answer for how this case has already been mishandled, and must provide a clear strategy on how they plan to continue to investigate the outstanding terror threats.”
Watch Biden’s remarks above via Reuters.
