White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted on Thursday that communism is a “failed ideology” after the administration repeatedly sidestepped the issue and initially claimed that the protests in Cuba were caused by a rise in COVID-19 cases and an “authoritarian regime.”
“I would say communism is a failed ideology and we certainly believe that,” Psaki said. “It has failed the people of Cuba. They deserve freedom. They deserve a government that supports them, whether that is making sure they have health and medical supplies, access to vaccines, or whether they have economic opportunity and prosperity. And instead, this has been a government and authoritarian communist regime that has repressed its people and has failed the people of Cuba. Hence, we’re seeing them in the streets.”
“But I would note that the ideology of the government, which has failed, has led to, a failure or a lack of access to economic opportunity to medical supplies to COVID vaccines,” she added. “So all of those pieces are true.”
Psaki’s claim that “communism is a failed ideology” trends along the same lines of a comment that she made at the start of the week when she claimed that Cubans were mad at the “economic mismanagement” of their government. Psaki’s claim that the Cuban government has “repressed” its people, without specifics, sidestepped the horrors of Communism, an ideology likely responsible for roughly 100 million deaths, according to some estimates, and, particularly, those of Cuba’s despotic regime.
The Cuban government is currently leading an intense crackdown on pro-democracy protests that began Sunday in Havana. The regime has shut down internet access and, so far, has arrested and detained more than 125 dissidents and journalists, per Reuters.
WATCH:
After spending all week refusing to condemn communism and the fact that the Cuban people have had enough of this far-left regime, Jen Psaki FINALLY admits to Fox's Peter Doocy that "communism is a failed ideology" and the Cuban people "deserve freedom." pic.twitter.com/6nQlocBEbX
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 15, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
REPORTER: Now that you’ve had a few days to think that it, does this White House still think the protests in Cuba are happening because people are upset about a rise in COVID cases there? Or is there some thought maybe given to the possibility that they are protesting because they are sick of communism?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, Peter, first, I would say communism is a failed ideology and we certainly believe that. It has failed the people of Cuba. They deserve freedom. They deserve a government that supports them, whether that is making sure they have health and medical supplies, access to vaccines, or whether they have economic opportunity and prosperity. And instead, this has been a government and authoritarian communist regime that has repressed its people and has failed the people of Cuba. Hence, we’re seeing them in the streets. But I would note that the ideology of the government, which has failed, has led to, a failure or a lack of access to economic opportunity to medical supplies to COVID vaccines. So all of those pieces are true.
REPORTER: And there are protesters now in this country who are chanting, as these protests in Cuba are going on, ‘Where is Biden?’ So where is he? What is he doing to protect these people who are rising up against the leaders of this field experiment?
PSAKI: Well, first, he is certainly advocating for and speaking out, as we put out a statement, multiple statements, maybe one of you will ask him a question about Cuba today. I will I will leave it to all of you to determine that. But one, he is made clear that he stands with the Cuban people and their call for freedom from both the pandemic and from decades of repression and economic suffering to which they’ve been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime. There’s an ongoing review of our own policies. And as we look at those policies, one of the big factors is ensuring we are not doing anything to pad the pockets of a corrupt authoritarian regime. And that is certainly a factor as he’s considering, but we’re looking closely at how we can help in a humanitarian way, how we can help support the voices of the Cuban people. And there’s an ongoing policy review in that regard.
REPORTER: We’d be happy to ask him about it later if he calls on us.
PSAKI: Anyone can ask anything they want.