White House Press Sec. Jen Psaki Is Reportedly Screening Reporters' Questions In Advance

Sergie Daez | February 3, 2021
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Jen Psaki is off to a poor start as White House press secretary.

Even though she’s been positively pampered by the leftist media, Psaki can’t seem to give direct answers to reporters in White House press briefings, constantly saying that she’ll “circle back” instead. Now, it looks like the direct answers she is able to give can't come without rehearsal.

Fox News reports that questions from White House correspondents were purportedly being screened before press briefings were held. A former White House correspondent observed that "The Trump administration certainly never asked me for questions in advance and I suspect there would have been universal outrage from reporters if they had done so."

Conservative strategist Chris Barron stated that "This is a totally normal procedure if you live in a banana republic, it’s absolutely unheard of in this country."

Welcome to the Biden administration, folks!

Responding to Fox’s request for a comment, a White House spokesperson stated, "Our goal is to make the daily briefing as useful and informative as possible for both reporters and the public. Part of meeting that objective means regularly engaging with the reporters who will be in the briefing room to understand how the White House can be most helpful in getting them the information they need. That two-way conversation is an important part of keeping the American people updated about how government is serving them."

It’s unfortunate that the press didn’t follow this statement when McEnany was in office. It’s equally unfortunate that Psaki is “circling back” all the time instead of aiding reporters “in getting them the information they need.” 

DePauw University professor and media critic Jeffrey McCall related to Fox that "every press briefing is a risk situation for the White House and Psaki should, indeed, want to be responsive and prepared for reporter questions."

"If, however, the process is designed to duck the tough questions or prepare rhetorical cover, then the risk factor is eliminated and the pressers look staged," he continued. "The White House press corps should expect that they be allowed to ask questions that have not been screened in advance. That's partly because reporters don't always want to signal in advance what questions they want to ask, and partly because the ebb and flow of any presser creates opportunities for impromptu questions that would not have seemed obvious in advance."

Dan Gainor, vice president of Business of Culture at the Media Research Center, seemed to indicate that Psaki was indeed trying “to duck the tough questions.” 

"In this case, Jen Psaki needs all the help she can get," he said. "It’s obvious she’s minor league even in the game of softball the press corps is playing with Team Biden."

Psaki’s no McEnany, that’s for sure.

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