You can take the press secretary out of the White House, but you can’t take the White House out of the press secretary. Despite now being a member of the press (after her ethically dubious hiring by NBC/MSNBC), former Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki appeared on Monday’s edition of The View and defended President Biden’s refusal to do press conferences and his desire to only grant sit down interviews to friendly media outlets that give him a tongue bath.
Psaki was teed up by faux-conservative co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin, who framed her question about Biden’s lack of “press availabilities” as her providing free campaign advice:
So Jen, you have been on both sides as working as a press secretary, but also now being in the media. And there's been a lot of criticism of Biden, most recently from The New York Times that he's held the fewest interviews and press availabilities of any president since Reagan. I personally think it would help dispel some of the concerns about his age if he did more. What would your advice be to the White House in terms of his accessibility to press?
The former press secretary turned MSNBC host began by suggesting that it was so hard for Biden to pick which media outlets to give interviews to because, “the benefit of the media environment right now…is that there are so many choices” and the goal is “just trying to communicate with the American people.”
Played to her hosts’ massive egos, Psaki further advised Biden that “he should come on The View before he does a press conference.” Which got an excited “Thank you!” screech from Farah Griffin.
Psaki argued that it was better for the American people to hear Biden take part in “real conversations” with hosts that love him (and shows The View co-hosts seemed to enjoy):
PSAKI: He should because people want to have real conversations about issues that are happening. I think press conferences are important, but I also think him doing Howard Stern –
SUNNY HOSTIN: Yes!
PSAKI: -- that's an interview that reached a broader audience of people. Him talking to the guys from Smart List, which is a great podcast –
SARA HAINES: Oh, I love that podcast.
“So, I would say more Howard Stern. Come on The View. You know, more Smart List conversations where you’re having conversations about policy, but they're real ones that people have at their kitchen table,” she declared.
Pretend-independent co-host Sara Haines even suggested that she rarely hears any important information distributed during a press conference, which she claimed were “just gotcha moments.” “Sometimes, as a citizen, when I watch I don't want just the same just like catching moment. I want to know what's going on and I don't always get that from a press conference,” she lamented.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
ABC’s The View
May 6, 2024
11:39:34 a.m. Eastern(…)
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: So Jen, you have been on both sides as working as a press secretary, but also now being in the media. And there's been a lot of criticism of Biden, most recently from The New York Times that he's held the fewest interviews and press availabilities of any president since Reagan. I personally think it would help dispel some of the concerns about his age if he did more. What would your advice be to the White House in terms of his accessibility to press?
JEN PSAKI: Well, I think the benefit of the media environment right now – there's a lot of challenges, but I'll start at the optimistic side – is that there are so many choices. And when you’re communicating from the White House, I mean, respect for freedom of speech and freedom of the press is important, but you're also really just trying to communicate with the American people.
So, my view is he should come on The View before he does a press conference.
[Applause]
FARAH GRIFFIN: Thank you!
PSAKI: He should because people want to have real conversations about issues that are happening. I think press conferences are important, but I also think him doing Howard Stern –
SUNNY HOSTIN: Yes!
PSAKI: -- that's an interview that reached a broader audience of people. Him talking to the guys from Smart List, which is a great podcast –
SARA HAINES: Oh, I love that podcast.
PSAKI: So, if you are in the White House, you're not thinking about, “Am I checking the box on doing the most interviews?” You're thinking about, “Am I doing the most I can to communicate my message to the American people?” That's who I represent.
So, I would say more Howard Stern. Come on The View. You know, more Smart List conversations where you’re having conversations about policy, but they're real ones that people have at their kitchen table.
HAINES: And they're also not just gotcha moments.
PSAKI: Yeah.
HAINES: Sometimes, as a citizen, when I watch I don't want just the same just like catching moment. I want to know what's going on and I don't always get that from a press conference.
PSAKI: Yes. Exactly.
(…)
