On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, apparently stung by criticism that she had evaded answering certain questions in the past by stating she would “circle back” with an answer at a later date, targeted “conservative Twitter.”
“And last thing I want to do before I get to your questions: I often note I am going to circle back,” said Psaki. “I hate to disappoint conservative Twitter, but I am going to circle back on a number of things, as we often do directly.”
Folks, "conservative Twitter" lives rent free in White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki's head for calling out her "circle back" habit.
Amazing. pic.twitter.com/M5aKIipT5O
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 1, 2021
Grabien’s Tom Elliott compiled a supercut of edited video of Psaki insisting she would have to “circle back.” Elliott commented on January 26, “Summary of Jen Psaki presser thus far: ‘We’re going to need to circle back before we circle back to circle back on circling back so we can move forward with circling back and then we can circle back.”
SUPERCUT!
Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) is going to “circle back” pic.twitter.com/uf5yAWmcYy
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) January 26, 2021
Last Friday, a reporter asked Psaki at a press briefing, “FEMA has requested active duty troops be used at vaccination centers when they get stood up across the country. Does the White House support that request?”
Psaki replied, “I did ask our team about this. You or someone else may have asked about this the other day, and I think I have something on it here, one moment.” She started rifling through her papers as she continued:
Thanks for your patience. Lots to say about COVID, no doubt about it. So let’s see. Let me talk to our team about it. I know I’ve seen that request from FEMA. Obviously part of our objective is ensuring that we have vaccinators on the ground. I know that’s not what you’re asking about, but also the ability to move materials and move vaccines. So we are tapping into any resource we can, but it’s more predominantly focused on a health and medical corps and the ability to get those people into communities. But I will check with our team and get you something more specific.
This prompted a comment from a member of “conservative Twitter,” Scott Adams, the artist and creator of the Dilbert comic strip: “Maybe Psaki could ask McEnany for some help on how to be organized.”
Maybe Psaki could ask McEnany for some help on how to be organized. https://t.co/GJxeoBcYjF
— Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) January 30, 2021
Unlike the Trump administration’s White House press secretaries, who repeatedly faced hostile questions from the mainstream media, here are some of the softball questions Psaki received from the press at her first press briefing:
The battle for truth may be as tough a fight right now, as is the battle against coronavirus. How do you and President Biden plan to combat disinformation that in many ways led to that assault we witness two weeks ago today on the capital?
Could you just give us some color about what it was like for him going into the Oval Office? He’s been waiting for this for so long. What was his reaction?
On President Trump’s inauguration day, he filed the paperwork to run for reelection same day. Does President Biden have any plans to do that today or in the coming days?
Will he keep Donald Trump’s Air Force One color scheme change?
The president did not mention the word Trump in his inaugural address today. What was the intention behind not making any direct reference to his predecessor in that speech?
How does President Biden plan to recover the United States’ image around the world, and what is his priority globally?