WATCH: Psaki Asked Does Biden ‘Support’ Democrats Passing Bill to Legalize Marijuana — Her Answer Isn’t ‘No’

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked if President Joe Biden supports a Democrat-led effort in the House to legalize marijuana — and her answer was not “no.”

At Friday’s White House press briefing, Psaki surprised reporters with her first briefing since testing Covid-positive for a second time, after White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield had originally been scheduled to brief.

In addition to being asked a raft of questions about the MSNBC-shaped elephant in the room, Psaki also took a question about marijuana, from Wall Street Journal White House correspondent Sabrina Siddiqui.

MS. SIDDIQUI: And just one quick question on another subject. The House passed a bill today that would remove marijuana from the federal schedule of controlled substances. Every Democrat, save for two, voted in favor of this bill. Does the President support the legislation?

MS. PSAKI: Well, first, let me say that, as the President said during the campaign, our current marilan- [sic] — marijuana laws are not working. He agrees that we need to rethink our approach, including to address the racial disparities and systemic — (Briefing Room door opens) — oh, okay — inequities in our criminal justice system, broaden research on the effects of marijuana, and support the safe use of marijuana for medical purposes.

The bill in question passed the House by a margin of 220 to 204, with all but two Democrats voting in favor of the measure, along with three Republicans who voted “Yea.”

Florida Congressmen Matt Gaetz and Brian Mast voted for the bill, as did California Congressman Tom McClintock.

The so-called MORE Act was introduced by New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler, and it “removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.”

Watch above via The White House and Fox News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!