Jen Psaki Picks Apart Reporter’s Stunning Suggestion the U.S. ‘Sympathize’ With Putin
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki picked apart a reporter’s suggestion that the administration “sympathize” with Russian President Vladimir Putin, making her own strong suggestion that the reporter was promoting Russian propaganda.
At Tuesday’s press briefing, Reuters White House Correspondent Trevor Hunnicutt brought the hottest of takes with him into the briefing room: Shouldn’t we sympathize with Putin, and aren’t we leaving him no choice but to invade Ukraine?
MR. HUNNICUTT: You guys keep holding up this, kind of, diplomatic path for Vladimir Putin. But as he noted today, you’ve already rejected both of his, kind of, central demands. So, what exactly is this a diplomatic path to if you’ve already rejected what he’s asked for? And can you kind of sympathize with the fact that he may be feeling like he’s strung along and wants to pursue things on another battlefield?
MS. PSAKI: As in invading a sovereign country? Which would be the alternative, right? Right? Is that what you’re saying?
MR. HUNNICUTT: Perhaps. Perhaps.
“Perhaps.”
Psaki responded that “it’s an imperative to keep the door to diplomacy open,” but also that “it should be up to NATO members to determine who is able to join NATO and that the door to that should be open,” and that “we have reiterated the same thing privately that we have reiterated publicly.”
She went on to say “Do we have sympathy?” and borrowed an analogy: “when the fox is screaming from the top of the henhouse that he’s scared of the chickens, which is essentially what they’re doing, that fear isn’t reported as a statement of fact. And as you watch President Putin screaming about the fear of Ukraine and the Ukrainians, that should not be reported as a statement of fact.”
“We know who the fox is in this case,” she said.
Hunnicutt tried again, suggesting something he called “mutual de-escalation,” but when pressed, left it to Psaki to define:
MR. HUNNICUTT: And do you think a possible endgame here could be just mutual de-escalation and then live to talk —
MS. PSAKI: De-escalation in what regard?
MR. HUNNICUTT: — about the issues another day?
MS. PSAKI: “Mutual de-escalation” — tell me more what you mean by that.
MR. HUNNICUTT: I mean, it’s up — I suppose it’s up to you to define. But I mean, you guys have asked for him to move troops back from the border.
Psaki responded by cautioning that “it’s a mistake to define things by the terms that President Putin is defining things.”
“When we talk about mutual de-escalation, Russia has 100,000 troops on the border; they are the aggressor,” Psaki said. “We are working with NATO countries to make sure they feel secure in this moment. NATO is a defensive alliance. It is not the same thing. And I think we need to be careful about comparing them as the same thing.”
Watch above via NBC News.
