WATCH: Jen Psaki Badgers Reporter Into Telling Her Which ‘Critics’ Are Demanding Border Visit
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki badgered a reporter who asked her to respond to “those who are criticizing” President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for not visiting the southern border, repeatedly asking him to identify the critics.
Psaki has made a habit of quizzing reporters who ask “people are saying” questions, and Friday provided a rather extreme example of the form when a reporter asked about unidentified critics who want the president or the VP to visit the border — where the number of unaccompanied minors in Border Patrol custody has dropped by more than 90 percent since the beginning of April.
Eventually, the reporter was able to name a single critic:
Q And what do you say to those who are criticizing the President and Vice President, who have not, to date, made a in-person visit to the Southwest border?
MS. PSAKI: Who are tho- — who are those?
Q Those who have criticized. There have been —
MS. PSAKI: Like who?
Q There have been lots of people criticizing the fact that they’ve not made the — a trip to the border yet.
MS. PSAKI: Like who?
Q Criticism from those in the Republican Party, criticism from others.
MS. PSAKI: Well, I don’t know who I’m responding to, but what I will say is that the President’s focus and the —
Q I’ll say that, just the other day, one of the senators held a press conference where that was a major criticism — the fact that —
MS. PSAKI: “One of the senators.” Okay.
Q Yes.
MS. PSAKI: Well, the President —
Q Senator Scott.
MS. PSAKI: Senator —
Q Senator Rick Scott.
MS. PSAKI: Senator Rick Scott. Okay. Well, the President’s focus and the Vice President’s focus is on solutions. And what our — what we’ve seen over the past several months is that, while we came in and there were — was little preparation for what was going to be a surge of migrants at the border, what we’ve done since then is rapid — or is massively reduced the number of children who are at Border Patrol facilities from over 5,000 to under 1,000 — the pro- — the number is probably even lower than that now — and massively reduced the number of hours that these children are spending in these facilities.
So, our focus is on working in — through the interagency process, pressing to eliminate bureaucracy, and making sure that we’re taking steps that treat them in a humane and moral way. And we’re less worried about press conferences or political games that are being played by some.
Watch above via The White House.
