Joe Biden’s press secretary Jen Psaki gets less pushback for what she says at the podium than any of Donald Trump’s many, many press secretaries that he burned through like tissue paper. Probably because she doesn’t tell so many easily fact-checked lies.
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But the spirit of Trump lives on in the press room, because amongst the legit reporters there are a few randos from places like Newsmax, there to sow discord and misinformation. A clip of Psaki contending with one of them, a correspondent Emerald Robinson, has gone viral because it gives viewers such a powerful sense of secondhand frustration.
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When Robinson asks a question about masks, she brings up Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s executive order that prohibits mask mandates in schools. That’s pretty scary for any parent with their head screwed on right, and definitely scary for teachers, administrators, and other staff who are potentially going to be subjected to COVID and its many variants in September. Robinson seems to think it’s a good thing, or she at least wants to get Psaki to say that cloth masks do nothing to protect from COVID-19.
She brings up former Biden COVID-19 adviser Michael Osterholm, who no longer works for the administration. According to Mediaite, Osterholm made an appearance on CNN on Monday, in which he said, “We know today that many of the face cloth coverings that people wear are not very effective in reducing any of the virus movement in or out.”
“We need to talk about better masking…We need to talk about N-95 respirators, which would do a lot for both people who are not yet vaccinated or not previously infected.”
Robinson clearly thinks this is a “gotcha” moment:
But she makes the mistake of saying that Osterholm is “one of the president’s top COVID advisers, and Psaki corrects her, saying he no longer works with them. Robinson insists that it is still notable he once worked for Biden. Of his remarks on CNN, Robinson says, “That’s sort of in line with the study that Governor DeSantis is citing as the basis for his executive order.”
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Psaki responds, “I think you’re confusing a few things there, but let me first say that Osterholm is not an adviser to the president, to the administration, to the White House, he doesn’t work here. He’s a private citizen and … a public health expert….But a lot of public health experts are out there speaking and good for them. I will say that we are going to continue to rely on the advice of medical experts in the federal government on what kind of masks we all should wear. What kind of masks kids should wear. If they change that advice, then the Department of Education will be working with schools to make sure that’s implemented as a mitigation measure.”
Psaki goes on to say that DeSantis is fundraising off his anti-mask mandate and that he is “preventing schools and teachers and others from protecting themselves and the students in their classroom.”
She added, “And as a mother myself that’s concerning and I’m sure it’s concerning to mothers in Florida.”
Robinson tries to get in there again to talk cloth masks, but Psaki circumvents her, saying, “I think we’re going to have to continue.”
They go back and forth as Robinson tries again and again, but Psaki tells her that she had a “long question” and it’s time to move on. Sort of like you would to a kindergartener.
*First Published: August 7, 2021, 8:48 am
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