WATCH: Fox’s Dana Perino Touts Biden Wins on the Economy and Jackson Confirmation in Convivial Interview With Jen Psaki
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki made a rare appearance on Fox News Sunday for an interview with anchor Dana Perino — who once held that post herself. And in the end, the discussion proved rather cordial.
After opening with the latest developments in Ukraine, the 13-minute interview moved to domestic affairs. And Perino sounded a surprising note to open an exchange on the economy.
“The White House touting a very low on employment number at 3.6 percent,” Perino said. “That’s quite remarkable.”
From there, Perino did cite words of warning from former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers that a recession is imminent, and asked Psaki whether the White House agrees with that assessment.
“We feel our economy has a strong basis right now,” Psaki replied. “And we will continue to monitor.”
Perino then quizzed Psaki on the administration’s recent move to pause student loan payments. But her argument centered on the idea that the economy is strong enough for Americans to meet those debt obligations.
“We’ve got a lot of jobs open, wages are up, they’re able to figure out a way to get to 3.6% unemployment,” Perino said — ticking off various positive economic indicators.
After briefly pressing Psaki on President Joe Biden’s plans to end Title 42, a move critics argue will lead to a surge in migrants at the border, the Fox News anchor shifted gears to discuss the recent confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
“I worked on two Supreme Court nominations myself,” Perino said, referencing her tenure in former President George W. Bush’s administration. ” know they are very rewarding, especially when they result in a way that this one did. This was a significant accomplishment for President Biden.”
Perino asked Psaki to bring Fox News viewers “behind the curtain” on the day Jackson was confirmed by the Senate.
“As you know, Dana, from working on these in the past, it was a very emotional day in the White House,” Psaki said. “A joyful day. And there so many days in the White House, no matter who you work for, that are exhausting, and heartbreaking, and challenging — because there aren’t easy answers to hard problems sometimes. But this was an incredibly joyful day, a day we celebrated, a day many of us were ugly crying on the White House south lawn, just celebrating this remarkable woman who is making history. But she is also so qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. So it was really a day I will remember for a long time to come.”
Watch above, via Fox.
