On Friday night, Psaki claimed she was not deliberately trying to insult the 34-year-old Fox News White House correspondent.
‘Full video shows that last night I also told a story about Peter’s mercy and made it very clear that I was not critical of him or a reporter at Fox, and instead was critical of the division of some Fox topics. He does his job. I do mine. We debate. We do not agree. I respect that. ‘ Psaki twittere.
Her candid remarks came during an episode of the podcast Pod Save America in Washington, DC, which was recorded Thursday night.
“He works for a network that provides people with questions that are not personal to one individual, including Peter Doocy, but can make anyone sound like a stupid son of ab *** h,” Psaki said.
President Joe Biden was caught earlier this year on a hot mic calling Doocy a ‘stupid son of ab *** h’ after reporter Biden asked if inflation was a political liability for him.
On Friday night, Psaki defended her remarks, claiming she did not knowingly try to insult the 34-year-old Fox News White House Correspondent
In January, President Joe Biden was caught on a hot mic calling Peter Doocy (pictured) a ‘stupid son of ab *** h’, which was the basis for the Pod Save America question on Thursday night
On Friday, CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter came to Psaki’s defense, saying that after two years on the job, she might just be ‘tired of it all’ and ‘maybe share how she really feels.’
‘I think the point she’s trying to make there is that Fox is pushing storylines that are sometimes nonsense. Doocy does that in the briefing room.
‘But still, she did it in a way that played out to a liberal audience, which will certainly cause a lot of shame to Fox. Probably the next few days? ‘
Stelter described Psaki as someone who just spoke her mind.
John Roberts of Fox News Channel, a former White House correspondent, criticized Psaki on Twitter, saying: ‘Comment for press conference: Peter Doocy makes the decisions on what topics he wants to quiz you on, and develops the questions himself. His philosophy is a basic principle of journalism. Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the pleasant. ‘
“If that makes us all ‘stupid sobs,’ so be it,” Roberts added.
During the podcast recording on Thursday night, Psaki had added, ‘Can I tell a nice story of Peter Doocy?’
She recalled how after Biden Doocy knocked on the hot microphone, on January 24, the president called the reporter to apologize.
Doocy was then asked about the phone call on Sean Hannity’s show that night.
‘So he went on TV that night and I actually saw Sean Hannity to see what he said. My mind was about to really bend and hurt, ‘Psaki recalled.
‘As you can imagine, it was like flames and it was like “Crime! Crime! Crime!” and Kamala – the vice president is like walking through the flames and crime.
‘I do not even know what happened.
‘But Sean Hannity asked him about, you know, what the president had said and what he said back.
‘And he could have said, “He’s a son of ab *** h” or “I’m coming up for …” whatever, he could have said anything.
‘And instead he said, you know he’s calling me, we had a really nice conversation, I’m just asking my questions, he’s doing his job,’ Psaki continued.
‘I will say, that was a moment of grace – you should not like everything Peter Doocy says or does, but it was certainly a moment of grace from Peter Doocy.’
Earlier this month, the news broke that Psaki was apparently in talks with MSNBC to join the left-leaning network, once she leaves her White House post. She is expected to step up in the coming months.
“She’s about to leave the White House, she’s going to a job, probably at MSNBC,” Stelter said.
‘That she’s kind of relaxed, and maybe sharing how she really feels.’
And Stelter further defended Psaki, saying her remarks were not intended as an attack on Doocy, the son of Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy, himself.
“To be honest, she did not really criticize him directly,” Stelter said. “She was really critical of Fox News as an organization.”
Fox defended her White House correspondent Friday, denying he was told anything to ask.
“In his role as White House correspondent, it is Peter Doocy’s job to bring truth to the attention of the American public,” a spokesman said in a statement.
“His questions are his own, he is a great reporter and we are very proud of his work.”
Speaking of her future plans, Psaki would not be attracted when she planned to step down.
‘I will not be there forever. I can surrender that, ‘she said. ‘I’m not trying to talk point-y by saying this is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s great in so many ways, ‘she continued.
She said one of the biggest lessons she’s learned from giving briefings over the past 15 months is that ‘you’re not at a dinner party and you’re not at a bar,’ and so even if the questions to become ‘repetitive’, she needed to respond with respect so that a reporter could not go online and ‘make you look like you’re reincarnated Satan’.
Psaki slammed reporters, including Kristen Welker of NBC News, over the question of whether it was ethical for her to discuss future job opportunities with employers such as MSNBC, while holding the position of press secretary.
Psaki claimed she treated it ethically.
“Well, there are a variety of strict ethical and legal requirements that are imposed on everyone in this administration and many previous administrations over all the conversations you have with future employers,” Psaki of the stage said earlier this month.
‘That applies to every industry you work in. And I have kept to that and tried to take steps to go further. ‘
There were plenty of others on social media who also came to Psaki’s defense
‘Not your biggest fan, realizing you have to spin the best you can, but you’ve always called the Fox people where I compliment you on,’ tweeted Joe Spaits.
“After so many years of clownish appearances by the worst press gaslight secretaries we’ve ever seen, it’s nice to see the return to normalcy and professionalism that your tenure has shown,” BrooklynDadDefiant said.
‘That’s good. You work for a White House where everyone sounds like a stupid son of ab *** h, ‘wrote Dan O’Donnell.
‘You’re an excellent press secretary, but he does not do the work of a journalist; he is a propagandist who does not deserve respect, ‘tweeted U.S. Army Veterinary Veteran David Weissman.
“I appreciate you trying to take the high road, but I want the administration to immediately take over the destructive power that Fox” News “is and push it to change or get rid of it,” added another Twitter user.
‘I think his questions serve a public service by explaining your complicated problems in kindergarten. That’s how everyone is informed, ‘joked Da Gummit.
