MSNBC’s Jen Psaki Hits Back at Trump Spox in Mock Briefing Bit — Slams ‘Bad Faith’ Prayer Attack

MSNBC host and former Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki hit back at Trump White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and other critics of her commentary on the latest gun massacre to befall U.S. children, this time at a Minneapolis church.

Leavitt, Vice President JD Vance, and others have attacked Psaki for her comments about prayer alone not being enough to combat gun violence — a widespread theme of gun control advocates in the wake of the mass shooting at the Annunciation Roman Catholic church in Minneapolis on Wednesday that killed two children, ages 8 and 10, and left 18 others injured.

On Thursday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki, the host responded to the attacks in her semi-regular “Jen’s Version” mock White House briefing segment.

Fielding the question that Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese asked at Thursday’s briefing, Psaki gave her version of the answer:

JEN PSAKI: OK, one more, Reagan Reese, Daily Caller, why not?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAGAN REESE, DAILY CALLER: Democrats, including former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey attacked prayer and pushed gun control in the aftermath of yesterday’s shooting. What’s the White House’s response to their comments?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PSAKI: Well, it’s quite a phrasing of your question there. But here’s the thing, prayer is a powerful source of comfort for so many people around the world during difficult times, including me. I completely feel that way. And what I said yesterday and will say again now, though, is that prayer alone is not enough to prevent and end the crisis of gun violence in America. It’s not.

Here are some stats for use by anyone in the briefing room, whether you’re at the podium or in the room. We live in a country where there are more guns than people. There have been five school shootings since the start of the school year on August 1st, less than a month ago, and 57 school shootings since January. And the fact that parents like me have to worry every day about whether or not our kids are safe at school is what we should be talking about.

So the issue I raised yesterday and I will raise again today and I will not stop raising, is that people in power, like, say, people in the White House, who are using their platforms to do anything other than call for action for sensible gun safety measures, they’re doing anything else, like attacking me, which is a waste of time, they’re doing anything but saying what they should — what should be done to help prevent tragedies like the shooting in Minneapolis. And because they’re not doing that, frankly, they’re not doing enough. And people shouldn’t accept they’re doing enough.

So instead of focusing on the bad faith back and forth, I hope the question someone asks in the next briefing, anyone in the room, is why the Trump administration doesn’t support universal background checks for gun sales when more than 80 percent of the country supports them. Why the Trump administration doesn’t support making it harder for people with mental illnesses to purchase a gun, despite more than 80 percent of the country supporting that. And why the Trump administration doesn’t support a ban on assault weapons when the majority of the country does.

Look, to solve this long epidemic of violence requires action. And when kids in pews who are praying are shot, to quote the statement from Sisters of Mercy on the Minnesota Catholic school shooting, our response can no longer be thoughts and prayers alone. Even Pope Leo, then a cardinal, I will note, retweeted Senator Chris Murphy in 2017, saying, “Your cowardice to act cannot be whitewashed by thoughts and prayers.” I would retweet that too, and continue to.

Watch the full commentary above via MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki.