Alisyn Camerota Defends Peter Doocy From Psaki’s ‘Son of a B*tch’ Comment: ‘Doesn’t That Come With the Territory?’
CNN’s Alisyn Camerota defended Peter Doocy Friday after it was reported White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki joked Fox News could make anyone look like a “stupid son of a bitch.”
On Thursday, Psaki was asked at a live recording of a podcast if Doocy “is a stupid son of a bitch, or does he just play one on TV?”
“He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a bitch,” Psaki said.
The question was rooted in a viral moment in January, in which President Joe Biden used the term to refer to the Fox News White House reporter on a hot mic. He later apologized.
On CNN Newsroom, Victor Blackwell and Camerota discussed Psaki’s comment with Stelter.
“Obviously, Peter Doocy has at times been a thorn in the side of Jen,” Caemrota said to Stelter, before she asked him, “But, doesn’t that come with the territory?”
Stelter responded:
It does come with the territory, and I think the point she’s trying to say there is that Fox pushes storylines that are sometimes nonsense. Doocy does that in the briefing room. But still, she did it in a way playing to a liberal audience that certainly is going to cause a lot of outrage from Fox probably for the next few days, right?
Stelter recited a statement Fox News issued Friday in defense of Doocy.
The network said: “In his role as White House correspondent, Peter Doocy’s job is to elicit truth from power for the American public. His questions are his own, he is a terrific reporter and we are extremely proud of his work.”
Stelter then compared Psaki to a high school senior nearing graduation, as she will soon leave the White House, presumably for a job at MSNBC.
“She is relaxing and maybe sharing how she really feels,” Stelter said. “To be fair, she didn’t really criticize [Doocy] directly. She was really criticizing Fox News as an organization.”
Camerota pushed back. She noted Doocy had elicited the “stupid son of a bitch” remark from Biden after he had simply asked if he felt inflation would hurt Democrats during the midterms.
“That’s a fair question,” Camerota said to Steleter. “It rankled the president, but that’s not a gotcha question, Brian.”
Stelter conceded Doocy did not ask a “gotcha” question, but he opined there “have been other times where Doocy does advance right wing talking points in the briefing room.”
Blackwell then reminded Stelter Biden had vowed on day one of his presidency that bullying of others would not be tolerated.
“The president should remember the promise he made at the start of the administration,” Blackwell said.
Watch above, via CNN.
