WATCH: White House Reporters Grill Psaki Over Biden Quip About the Press as if He’d Just Insulted Their Mothers

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki got the third degree from reporters over a quip that President Joe Biden made last week about the press not being well-behaved, an overreaction after four years of The Former Guy.

Last week, during a photo op with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the president joked that “The Indian press is much better behaved than the American press,” and that the Americans were likely to be knocking folks over.

“I think, with your permission, we should not answer questions because they won’t ask any questions on point,” the president added.

That exchange — which took place before reporters were brought into the Oval Office on Friday and was captured by ABP News — was a hot topic at Monday’s daily briefing.

No fewer than three different reporters grilled Psaki about the remark, which Psaki explained by emphasizing the fact President Biden takes questions from reporters — and took questions that day — and contextualized the remark as a minor shot on a narrow point.

Well, I would note, first, that he took questions on Friday and he took questions again today.

And I think what he said is that they’re not always “on point.” Now, I know that isn’t something that anyone wants to hear in here. But what I think he was conveying is, you know, today, he might want to talk about COVID vaccines; some of the questions were about that. He might want to talk about — and some of the questions are not always about the topic he’s talking about in that day. I don’t think it was meant to be a hard cut at the members of the media — people he has taken questions from today and on Friday as well.

Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich followed up by casting Biden’s remarks as a commentary on global press freedom, saying “The President said that the Indian press was ‘better behaved’ than the U.S. press, but the Indian press is ranked 142nd in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders, for press freedoms,” and asking “How does he say that about the U.S. press compared to the Indian press?”

“Well, I would just say to you that having now worked for the President — serving in this role for nine months, having seen that he’s taking questions from the press more than 140 times, including today and Friday — that he certainly respects the role of the press, the role of the freedom of pre… free press. He — we ensure that we have press with us, of course, when we travel; that we have press with us for sprays in foreign — in foreign capitals; and we will continue to. And I think that should speak to his commitment to freedom of press around the world,” Psaki said.

The responses were delivered confidently and deftly and were probably about the best that Psaki could safely do. Reporters have a point here, which makes the line of questioning tough to work with. Biden is right that reporters very seldom stick to the desired subject — but they don’t have a duty to do that. They are, in fact, sometimes liable to ask questions that are loaded or in bad faith or which contain dumbshit or misinformation — as is their freedom to do. That’s what the answers are for.

I think a fair interpretation of Psaki’s answer is that Biden made a lighthearted quip during an unvarnished moment and that despite his occasional jabs, he has the same sort of respect for the institution of journalism as most normal presidents do.

The constraints of the job prevented her from contrasting this quip with the last occupant of the White House, who waged a four-year campaign of violent rhetoric against the press that literally inspired multiple pipe bomb attacks, and was a key component of his incitement to insurrection.

None of which is to say that anything short of that is fine and dandy, but it is to say that a little perspective is in order. Bristling at a shitty question is not the same thing as declaring the free press the Enemy of the People.

Jen Psaki is not free to say “Calm the f*ck down, people. That mushroom-dicked white supremacist-whisperer almost got some of you killed,” and not just because Trump denies having a tiny mushroom dick. It’s also because Trump shouldn’t be anyone’s yardstick.

Which is also to say that President Biden ought to remember that he’s governing in the shadow of that gallows that was erected to lynch Mike Pence, and the bottle of bleach that people were told to inject, and the very fine tiki torches, and yes, the pipe bombs and the other pipe bombs, and realize that some varnish is in order.

Watch above via The White House.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.