Reporters Pepper Psaki with Questions About Biden’s ‘Ultra-MAGA King’ Slams, Compare To Hillary’s ‘Deplorables’ Moment
Four different reporters peppered White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki with questions about President Joe Biden‘s derisive references to “Ultra-MAGA King” former President Donald Trump and his supporters.
Since May 4, the president has been waging an escalating campaign to rebrand current Republicans as “Ultra-MAGA” extremists who are acolytes of “The Great MAGA KING” — a new wrinkle in the effort that Biden rolled out Wednesday.
The theme has certainly caught the attention of the White House press corps, who fired questions about it at Thursday’s press briefing.
First was Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich, who compared the remarks to Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables” moment, and asked Psaki if the strategy is a wise one. Psaki expressed support for the tactic:
MS. HEINRICH: And I wanted to ask about the President’s comments last night. He went off about MAGA again.
MS. PSAKI: Yeah. MAGA king. King MAGA.
MS. HEINRICH: Yes. He referred to former President Trump as the “ultra-MAGA king.” He’s been decrying ultra-MAGA Republicans and saying he’s going to be doing it more.
MS. PSAKI: Mm-hmm.
MS. HEINRICH: But Hillary Clinton expressed some regret not too long ago for referring to Trump voters as “deplorables” who couldn’t be redeemed. And considering that Trump got 74 million votes in the last election, I’m just wondering if this is the best strategy for Biden to win people over — win over support ahead of the midterms, especially given his inaugural theme being “America united”?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I would say that the President is not afraid to call out what he sees as extreme positions that are out of line with where the American people stand, and whether that is supporting a tax plan that will raise taxes on 75 million Americans making less than $100,000 a year; or whether it is supporting efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, something that two-thirds of the American people in a Fox News Poll, may I add, supported. And there are countless examples from there.
The President believes that there is still work we can do together. The Bipartisan Innovation Act is a good example of that. But, again, he is not going to stand back and stand aside while people are pushing for extreme positions that are not in the interests or supported by the vast majority of the American people.
Next, The Washington Post‘s Ashley Parker asked about Trump and others co-opting the terms, and Psaki’s response was, in a nutshell, “Good for them”:
MS. PARKER: And briefly, on a different topic of “ultra-MAGA” — now, you saw Representative Elise Stefanik saying, “I’m ultra-MAGA, and I’m proud of it.” Former Trump super PAC blasted out a t-shirt of him as an ultra-MAGA Superman. He, on his own Twitter-alternative platform, released a meme of him as the ultra-MAGA king.
I guess I’m curious what the administration makes of Republicans and the former President sort of co-opting this and elevating what President Biden clearly intended as a pejorative.
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think if that means that the individuals you’ve mentioned are embracing their opposition to a woman’s right to make choices about her own healthcare, if they’re embracing a plan that will raise taxes on 75 million Americans, if they’re embracing the importance of fighting Mickey Mouse over virtually any other issue, I guess that’s their platform. Good for them. We’re happy to have a debate about that.
Two other reporters went on to ask about the president’s attacks, and Psaki used those opportunities to reinforce them.
On Thursday morning, Psaki told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor Breakfast that Biden thought up the terminology, and that the president “is having a good time being out drawing the contrast. And I think you will see many, much more of that. And that, I think will be helpful in sharpening for the public what the choices are.”
Watch above via The White House and Reuters.
