‘Pretty Clear This Is A Publicity Stunt’: Psaki Mocks Peter Doocy’s Question About Texas Busing Migrants to DC

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy earned dismissive responses from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki when he asked if the White House was planning for an influx of migrants being bussed in from Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott.

At issue is a plan that at least one critic has described as “douchy”: Abbott’s press conference to announce that “Texas is providing charter buses to send these illegal immigrants who’ve been dropped off by the Biden administration to Washington D.C. We are sending them to the United States Capitol, where the Biden administration will be able to more immediately address the needs of the people that they are allowing to come across our border.”

At Thursday’s press briefing, Doocy followed up a sharp exchange with Psaki — on a surge of migrants that is expected following the lifting of Title 42 — by credulously asking what the administration has planned for all those busloads of migrants. Psaki mocked the question’s premise by pointing out Abbott’s lack of authority in this area:

MR. DOOCY: And the last one on this: Now that the Texas governor is saying that he’s going to start busing border crossers to Washington, D.C., when they get here, are you guys going to help them find a place to stay and something for them to do?

MS. PSAKI: Well, I’m not aware of what authority the governor would be doing that under. I think it’s pretty clear this is a publicity stunt. His own office admits that a migrant would need to voluntarily be transported and that he can’t compel them to. Because again, enforcement of our country’s immigration laws lies with the federal government, not a state.

MR. DOOCY: You don’t think people want to visit Washington, D.C.?

MS. PSAKI: Well, listen, I don’t know, but I know that the governor of Texas or any state does not have the legal authority to compel anyone to get on a bus.

Watch above via The White House and NBC News.