In a Friday podcast appearance, White House press secretary Jen Psaki laughed and ridiculed Fox News for broadcasting a discussion of the victims of violent crime in America’s cities.
Psaki was a guest on the leftist podcast Pod Save America. She was in a discussion with Jon Lovett, one of the former Obama aides who host the show, about the difficulties of communicating the president’s message through the media.
Lovett turned the discussion to “that Doocy kid,” a reference to Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy, which made Psaki laugh. Lovett asked Psaki if she was concerned Ducey might be scheming to catch her in a gotcha question.
“I am not here to work for Peter Doocy or Fox,” Psaki explained. She took a moment to pretend that Republicans were responsible for the spike in violent crime because they didn’t support the “American Rescue Plan” tera-bill the Democrats were pushing last year.
Related: Biden Forced to Walk Back ‘Stupid Question’ Dig at Fox Reporter
Psaki then moved on to one of the Left’s favorite pinatas, Fox News. She looked up to describe what she currently saw on a split-screen monitor streaming top news stations. “So, right now, just to give you a sense, there’s CNN, ‘Pentagon: As many as 8,500 U.S. troops on heightened alert.’ Okay, true. Same on MSNBC. CNBC is doing their own thing about the market.”
Psaki then looked back into the camera with a smirk of disbelief. “And then, on Fox, is Jeanine Pirro talking about soft on crime consequences. I mean, what <laughs> what does that even mean? Right? There’s an alternate universe on some coverage. What’s scary about it is that a lot of people watch that.”
Jen Psaki mocks people discussing the “consequences” of “soft-on-crime” policies: “What does that even mean?” pic.twitter.com/C1KEnXVIQI
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 31, 2022
Psaki went on to complain that Fox viewers “think that the president isn’t doing anything to address people’s safety in New York, and that couldn’t be further from the truth, or other places,” but the damage was done. Her callous nonchalance for the very real suffering caused by Democrat policies was clearly exposed for all to see.
In a piece I recently wrote for PJ Media VIP members, I gave a quick rundown of a few high-profile crimes that occurred a couple of weeks ago:
Crimes in the news lately are enough to make you want to lock yourself in your house and hide. Here are some examples from just the past week: in Los Angeles, a man walked into an upscale furniture shop on Thursday afternoon and stabbed a beautiful young grad student to death (he’s still at large); earlier that same day in L.A., a homeless man punched a nurse on her way to work so hard that she cracked her head on the pavement and died three days later; and on Saturday in New York City, still another homeless man shoved a woman in front of a subway train, killing her.
Fox News’ reporting on this sort of horror is somehow laughable to the voice of the Biden Collective (the group of people currently running our country under the brand name “President Biden”).
Ordinary citizens recoiled from the smug redhead’s mockery.
Hey @PressSec @jrpsaki — “soft on crime” means these 6 ppl are dead. It meant Jessalyn spent Thanksgiving on a vent. It means Brianna Kupfer was stabbed to death by a repeat offender. It means Michelle Go was pushed in front of the subway by career criminal. https://t.co/et4KF78rZ3 pic.twitter.com/27jWgBTAqR
— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) January 31, 2022
Patrick Yoes, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police, rebuked the artless press secretary in a statement. “I think it’s wrong—very wrong—for Ms. Psaki to suggest that violent crime in our country is of no concern or to just laugh it off,” said Yoes. “She may feel safe in the White House, one of the most protected buildings in the United States, but not everyone feels safe in their workplace.”
Yoes continued, “There are many reasons for this escalating violence in many of our communities, and one of them is agenda-driven prosecutors who have gone rogue. Many of them are refusing to bring charges against so-called ‘low-level’ or ‘nonviolent’ offenders. Under their leadership, which has been abhorrent in many cases, many violent offenders don’t stay in jail—they’re back on the streets and free to commit more crimes. That is the universe in which I, and millions of Americans, live in.”
On Monday, Fox News correspondent Jacqui Heinrich asked Psaki about her inappropriate mirth. The New York Post reports that Psaki answered, “I encourage anyone to listen to the full context of the interview in the conversation. … What I was speaking to was a chyron on Fox News, since you raised it, which suggested this administration is soft on crime with no basis.” Psaki then went on to repeat her story from the podcast: “There was additional funding to support local COPS [Community Oriented Policing Services] programs, something that every single Republican voted against,” she said, referring to the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which was signed into law last March. Republicans rightly objected to the massive spending behemoth; since it was enacted, inflation has soared, workforce participation has remained stagnant, and — germane to this conversation — high levels of violent crime have continued to terrorize law-abiding citizens and shatter lives.
“Pretending violent crimes are part of some other reality will not help victims,” said Yoes. “Ms. Psaki owes them an apology.”
Signing off with a cartoon of the occasion from our sister site, Townhall:
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