Jen Psaki Claps Back After Trump Flack Steven Cheung Rips Her for What She Left Behind in White House
Photo by Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP
MSNBC host Jen Psaki smacked back at White House communications director Steven Cheung after he tweeted a photo of stationery he found left behind “in a random cabinet” with her name on it, mocking him for trying to attack her for writing thank you notes.
Thursday morning, Cheung posted the photo of a box of note cards with a navy blue border and “Jen Psaki” at the top in a navy blue script.
“A relic of the past found in a random cabinet in the White House,” wrote Cheung. “Apparently @jrpsaki was soooooo important she had personalized note cards made to remind people how ‘important’ she was.”
Psaki replied a few hours later with a critique of Cheung’s priorities and an etiquette lesson.
“Would hope you had more important things to worry about (you know the cost of eggs, childcare, veterans waiting for care…could literally go on),” wrote Psaki, “but hey since you raised it I purchased these myself to write notes to colleagues and staff to thank them for their work and also to write back to people who wrote me including kids. How dare I!”
As numerous commentators pointed out, stationery with the sender’s name is a long-running form of etiquette, even in today’s digital age. Contrary to Cheung’s accusation that the personalized stationery was a sign Psaki wanted to “remind” people she was “important,” it comes from tradition and is “a way of showing care and respect to the recipient,” along with the handwritten correspondence that goes on it.
Psaki served in a number of communication roles in the Obama and Biden White Houses, including White House press secretary, and would have had countless interactions with all kinds of people: other heads of state, members of Congress, local and state elected officials, White House and other government staff, representatives from businesses and charitable organizations, and members of the American public (and their kids, as she mentioned).
It would be weird if she hadn’t ever sent out any letters during her time in the White House, and the stationery could have justifiably been considered an office expense since it was connected to her official duties. But, as Psaki tweeted, she did pay for them herself. Grandmothers across America are presumably nodding in approval.
