NY Post Reporter Questions Psaki on Afghanistan Transparency by Asking About Biden’s Dog Biting People

During Friday’s White House press briefing, Press Secretary Jen Psaki faced a deluge of questions about the Biden administration’s withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan ahead of the August 31 deadline. But in the middle of at all, New York Post reporter Steven Nelson had something else on his mind: discrepancies about the number of biting incidents involving President Joe Biden’s dog Major.

In fairness, Nelson’s question was the preface for a broader question about White House transparency on bigger issues:

Yesterday the conservative transparency group Judicial Watch released Secret Service records on dog bites involving the First Dog, Major. One email said that the Secret Service agents were bitten every single day for eight days from March 1st to March 8th, and that White House visitor was as well. At a March 9th briefing, you only described one biting incident to us, and described the dogs as being whisked back to Delaware on a preplanned trip to his family friends.

Obviously, that is not the world’s most important story, but it is significant because we expect honest information even for minor stories. So can you explain to us why there was kind of a misleading account presented to us? And if we can’t get honest information about minor stories, why should we have faith in the administration’s account for larger issues like Afghanistan?

Psaki responded to Nelson, who reported on the Judicial Watch story in the Post on Thursday, by saying, “I know you do keep the dog in the news in the briefing room, so thank you for that.”

“As we’ve stated previously,” she continued, “Major has had some challenges adjusting to life in the White House. He has been receiving additional training, as well as spending some time in Delaware where the environment is more familiar to him and he is more comfortable. I don’t have any additional specifics, but I think that speaks to where Major is located to be fully transparent in your ongoing interest in the dog.”

Watch above.