Megyn Kelly Grills State Dept's Jen Psaki on Yemen: What about that ‘Death to America’ Stuff?

Barbara Boland | January 27, 2015
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“I want to ask you about Yemen, which is basically a hot mess now,” said Fox’s Megyn Kelly to State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki, signaling that she wasn’t about to let the woman who tries to spin bad diplomatic news for a living off the hook.

Yemen’s government was taken over by radicals this weekend who’ve chanted “Death to America; Death to Israel; Victory to Islam,” said Kelly. “So, the American people may not be feeling too great about the new people in charge of Yemen. You were asked about these folks, the Houthis, last week. Here's what you said:
[Kelly played this clip from the State Dept. press conference]


Matt Lee (from the AP): “They do on occasion chant ‘Death to America’ and that kind of thing. It’s not as if they haven’t expressed anti-American sentiment in the past.”

Jen Psaki: “Well, obviously, Matt, as I mentioned, we continue to assess our security needs every day, regardless of what’s been said. But it is important to note that just this week, they stated that was not their intention.”


Kelly continued chuckling a bit: “So… you're taking them at their word that they no longer mean the chants?”

“Well, Megyn, first of all I know you could never play all the back and forth we have on Yemen in the briefing, but we've been discussing this probably hours last week in the briefing,” said Psaki, stalling for time. “Political officials…”

“I don't want to get deep into Yemeni politics,” said Kelly sounding exasperated. “I just want to ask you whether you are actually saying that we should just trust this group because they now say never mind all that chanting about death to America?

“Well, I think our actions are… make clear that we don't just trust,” said Psaki. “I think it was important to note that that was something that was stated publicly. Now there’s no question…”

“So was death to America stuff,” interjected Kelly.

“There's been a great deal of unacceptable violence, rhetoric, everything you've said,” said Psaki. “There's no question about that. But we're in a situation that is very tense; it's fluid. We have to see what's going to happen on the ground in Yemen. We don't know yet what's going to happen there.”

“Let’s hope that was just bluster,” said Kelly.

As if on cue, the U.S. embassy in Yemen released an emergency message yesterday, warning U.S. citizens of the “high security threat level in Yemen due to terrorist activities and civil unrest” and urging Americans to avoid the country because they are “vulnerable to kidnappings and terrorist attacks.”

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