Fox’s Peter Doocy Battles Jen Psaki in Tense Confrontation on Crime in America: Does Biden Know That ‘People Do Not Feel Safe?’
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy battled White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday over crime in the United States.
Doocy began the exchange by asking Psaki whether she “would agree that the most important job for any president is to keep Americans safe.”
“I would agree,” replied Psaki.
“You said that the president is never satisfied if people don’t feel safe,” said Psaki. “Does he know that after a year in office people did not feel safe in this country?”
Psaki responded that the U.S. has experienced a crime surge “over the last two years.”
Doocy asked Psaki what is to blame for the rise in crime.
Psaki said:
We should be responsible in how we’re reporting to the public what the roles are, what the reasons are for the surge in crime. Gun violence is a huge reason for the surge in crime.
Underfunding of some police departments and their need for additional resources, something the president has advocated for consistently through the course of his career, that’s something we know we need to take action on, and it is absolutely true that he will not be satisfied or complacent when officers are being gunned down or when Americans have to worry whether they can safely ride the subway or bus, that should not be a political issue.
He’s somebody who’s had a long career of many decades of fighting for funding for police departments, for local communities in order to reduce crime.
Doocy followed up, “But he’s been here in office for more than a year. And the murder rate is nearing a 25-year high. So why don’t we see and hear more from the president about this? We hear all the time about things that you guys are doing to fight the pandemic because that is a risk to American people. A rising murder rate is a risk to American people too, right?”
Psaki noted that Biden has spoken about and taken steps to address the issue of crime such as the DOJ giving “$139 million in grants to cities for community policing, which will put 1,000 more officers on the street.”
Doocy asked if “any of that is working.”
“The president thinks he should have a plan to address crime and gun violence, he has one and we look forward to working with people who support that effort,” said Psaki.
Doocy followed-up: “But as the murder rate nears a 25-year high, would he consider maybe trying something different?”
“Trying something other than supporting a massive plus up in funding from his predecessor, cracking down on gun trafficking and gun violence, which is a major driver of the violence we’ve seen across the country, working to support community policing programs and police departments across the country, I think most people who want to fight crime would agree that’s the right approach,” replied Psaki.
Watch above, via Fox News.
