On Tuesday, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy once again showed up to a White House press conference with a raft of slanted questions, and press secretary Jen Psaki adeptly dismantled his nonsense. What does Doocy — who essentially always sounds self-important — think is going to happen? Does he seriously think that his often bizarre, inane questions are going to lead to some kind of political breakthrough? On Tuesday, he questioned Psaki regarding new rules set to demand proofs of vaccinations against COVID-19 from patrons at many indoor establishments across New York City, and he also asked about sexual harassment claims against New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Doocy asked if the Biden administration thinks that the new rules in New York City are “fair to people who may have a religious reason for not wanting the vaccine or might just be waiting for the FDA to approve it fully before they get it” — which, on its face, is deceptive. Federal health authorities have already provided an authorization to use certain vaccines against COVID-19, and implying, as Doocy seemed to, that there’s some kind of open question as to the vaccines’ basic safety is flatly false. Although there are different requirements for the so-called emergency use authorizations under which the vaccines currently operate and the longer-term approvals on the horizon, each have strict guidelines necessary for their issuance.
Psaki replied to Doocy’s question about NYC with the following:
‘The administration, and the White House, and the president support steps by localities to take steps to protect people in their states and their communities, to incentivize people getting vaccinated. I don’t know all the specific details if they have exemptions, so I’d point you to them.’
Doocy subsequently brought up a report from New York state Attorney General Letitia James concluding that New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo had sexually harassed multiple women. To be clear, there’s no particularly substantive connection between the goings-on in New York and the day-to-day operations of the White House. Obviously, the Biden administration has an opportunity to connect with the Cuomo administration in ways different from most Americans, but generally speaking, members of the Biden team are observers, just like so many other Americans. Doocy attempted to be launching attempts at “gotcha!” questions.
Doocy asked Psaki if a previous invitation from Biden to Cuomo for an upcoming conference of governors remained in place, and Psaki replied by saying that she’d “let the president speak to his views later this afternoon.” Then, Doocy asked if the Biden administration wants a civil rights investigation from the Justice Department into the harassment claims against Cuomo, and Psaki responded by adeptly noting that — unlike the Trump administration — the Biden administration does not seek to meddle in Justice Department operations.
As she pointedly put it:
‘We do something new here that feels foreign from the last four years and allow the Justice Department to act independently on investigations.’
Watch Psaki’s comments below:
it's time for Jen Psaki's daily ownage of Peter Doocy pic.twitter.com/C9Dij890bp
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 3, 2021
