Kristi Noem isn’t the only one whose book is causing controversy. Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary turned MSNBC mouthpiece, found herself in hot water on Monday after it was reported that she lied about Joe Biden in her new book. For once, the heat isn’t coming from the right, either. Left-wing Axios reported the falsehood and pressed for an explanation.
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The setup is a passage in Psaki’s book claiming that Biden never looked at his watch at Dover AFB during the ceremony for servicemembers killed during the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. She went so far as to call the claims “misinformation” in her writings.
At the time, the incident left Gold Star families fuming.
READ: Gold Star Father Explodes at Joe Biden in Must-See Emotional Testimony
In her new book “Say More,” Psaki writes that “the president looked at his watch only after the ceremony had ended. Moments later, he and the First Lady headed toward their car.”
- Psaki, now a star anchor at MSNBC who h as described herself as a journalist , writes that Biden’s critics were engaged in “misinformation” and used the image to make “him appear insensitive, concerned only about how much time had passed.”
I’ve got to give Axios credit because hitting here with the “has described herself as a journalist” line is good stuff. Psaki is not a journalist. She’s a Democrat apparatchik masquerading as one, and she wouldn’t know unbiased journalism if it fell from the sky and landed on her head.
So what’s the real story? The real story is that Biden not only looked at his watch during the ceremony, but he did so at least twice. The Associated Press took the time-stamped pictures that became the basis of numerous fact-checks of the episode because the White House has been lying about it ever since. Psaki knew the truth, but in all her hubris, she chose to repeat the falsehood in her book anyway, probably believing the press wouldn’t call her out.
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Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki claims in her new book that President Biden never looked at his watch during the ceremony for soldiers killed during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 — contradicting news photos and firsthand accounts of Gold Star families.
Why it matters: In TV ads and social media posts, Donald Trump and his allies repeatedly have used images of Biden checking his watch during the ceremony to try to undermine the president’s brand as an empathetic leader.
- Psaki’s book is the latest instance of current and former Biden administration officials downplaying or misrepresenting controversial episodes from the Afghanistan withdrawal ahead of the 2024 election.
Remember, though. People like Psaki are our betters, blessed with the truth and willing to speak it. Who can forget this absolute gem of a post from Brian Stelter?
How refreshing, indeed. Shockingly enough, Psaki was left scrambling by the backlash she received, so much so that she put out a statement saying the falsehood would be removed from future copies of the book.
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Even still, Psaki can’t help but continue to lie about the situation. The problem with the passage in her book wasn’t the “exact number of times he looked at his watch.” It was about the fact that she said he never looked at his watch during the ceremony and only did so afterward on the way to the car. They can’t help but be dishonest. It’s like breathing to them.