- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tried to lower the temperature in the information room.
- Psaki knows that the task is being questioned with difficult questions and strives for fact-based answers.
- “People need to know I’m not going to be a pressure above,” she told The Daily Beast.
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Although the relationship between the White House press corps and presidential administrations has always been somewhat contradictory, former President Donald Trump’s relationship with the media has been known for its perpetual toxicity.
Since her debut nearly three weeks ago, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has been trying to lower the temperature and focus on policy.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Psaki looked back at her first press conference, where she spoke in a collegial way with reporters and talked about ‘the role of a free and independent press in our democracy’.
This statement was a stark contrast to the rude personalities of former press secretaries such as Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany.
Psaki said she knows the work is accompanied by difficult questioning and that the focus is on facts.
“It was definitely my perspective during my career, and my goal was to return to accuracy and transparency from the podium,” Psaki said. “But also [to acknowledge that] there would be moments of disagreement, and that was part of democracy, right? ‘
She added: “Fact sheets are back. We love facts here. It is our goal to make policy like this again.”
Read more: Within the 7-minute virtual workouts, the Biden transition team always kept in touch while staff members were willing to break down Trump’s policies
Psaki and the White House communications team are already receiving largely positive reviews from the press, many of whom have become accustomed to the Trump administration’s tainted briefings and responses via email.
“It’s great to return to briefings and a useful exchange for reporters to answer their questions,” White House Reporter Zeke Miller told The Daily Beast. “But it’s not just about exchanging information; it’s about the powerful symbol that the forum sends around the world, but also in Washington – that the government no longer takes questions about journalists. This is an important principle that good to see. “
But, Psaki’s interaction with Anita Kumar of Politico the past week shows that the core dynamics of the press secretary’s role in the reprint have not disappeared.
Psaki, who was not happy with a question posed about the relationship between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the White House correspondent put forward.
“I do not appreciate the, like putting words in my mouth,” Psaki told Kumar, who was allegedly startled by the encounter.
“People need to know that I’m not going to be a pressure above,” Psaki told The Daily Beast. “And I’m not going to let people put words in my mouth or misinterpret what I said. It’s important to be clear and concrete and very specific, because you’re still speaking on behalf of the government.”