Reporter Asks Jen Psaki if Biden Would Consider ‘Partnership’ with Trump After Recent Vaccine Sensibleness

Several reporters asked White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki about outreach with former President Donald Trump following his recent bout with responsible public statements about Covid vaccines and boosters.

Psaki held a briefing with reporters on Thursday, during which the subject of potential “partnership” between President Joe Biden and Trump following the much-lauded statements came up.

CNN’s Jeremy Diamond said “You guys have been sharing press about former President Trump’s message recently on boosters,” and asked “given the former president’s apparent change in tune on this issue over the last week, has there been any renewed contact between President Biden and the former president or your teams?”

“No,” Psaki replied, but added the White House is “grateful that the former president got the booster” and “that he made clear in a recent interview that they’re effective and they’re safe, and that’s an important message for anyone to hear.”

Psaki was referring to Trump’s well-publicized revelation that he’s had a booster shot, which drew boos from the crowd he was speaking to.

“This is not a partisan issue. This is about saving lives, communicating accurate information, pushing back against inaccurate information. And in this particular case, the former president did that,” Psaki said, likely referencing remarks Trump made to Candace Owens in a separate instance.

Another reporter asked “Would the White House consider a partnership with the former president, to get some of those folks that are vaccine-hesitant to actually get the jab?”

Psaki was less than enthusiastic:

I don’t know that we think it requires a partnership. I think we believe that, you know, the former president being out there and stating what is factually accurate about the efficacy of vaccines, of getting boosted, which he recently did, of course, is a good thing. Right?

And it’s a good thing to have a range of voices out there; Democrats, Republicans, independents, celebrities, non-celebrities, whomever people will be listening to out in the country. We continue to believe that the most effective voices are local voices, local people. That’s who everybody listens to, people in their community, your neighbor, your friend, your cousin, your pediatrician.

But certainly, we would applaud, and have, the former president’s comments.

Watch above via C-Span.