White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed last week that watching Aaron Sorkin’s “The West Wing” — a fictionalized TV series about Democratic politicians in Washington, D.C., fighting the “good fight” — is what ultimately dragged her back into politics 10 years ago.
Psaki’s comments were made during her appearance on Rob Lowe’s “Literally!” podcast. Lowe starred on “The West Wing” which ended in 2006. The comments were pretty revealing, as some in the past have accused the Biden White House, including Psaki, of copying plot lines from the TV show or uttering talking points so self-absorbed that they could only be ripped off “The West Wing.”
Psaki told Lowe — who played Deputy Communications Director Sam Seaborn on the show — that after leaving the Obama administration in 2011 she was working at a consulting firm and began “binge-watching” the show on a whim, according to Fox News. She credited it for bringing her back to politics:
“I’m working at this consulting firm and I started watching ‘The West Wing.’ And I don’t know what prompted me to watch it, but I watched, I binged, the entire thing,” Psaki said.
“In a crazy way, it really brought me back to come back to politics and I ended up coming back and doing the 2012 campaign, and traveling with then-President Obama on his reelection,” Psaki added. “So I was basically gone for like six months, and then I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got to go back, I’ve got to go back.'”
The parallels between President Joe Biden and “The West Wing” first began on the campaign trail, when the Biden team sent a fundraising email claiming that one of the characters on the show would have supported Biden in 2020. The e-mail was sent from actor Richard Schiff, who played the communications director Toby Ziegler on the series:
A new fundraising pitch from the Biden campaign under West Wing actor @Richard_Schiff’s name: “Sadly, President Bartlett is just a TV character. But luckily, Joe Biden is real and he is running for president.” pic.twitter.com/DhaN0F7Eg8
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 8, 2019
Throughout the campaign, progressives compared Biden to the show’s character President Jed Bartlett, as well.
Then, in August 2021, Human Events and TPUSA personality Jack Posobiec — who has claimed to have insider sources in the White House – tweeted, “I want to be clear about something When I say the Biden WH is run by West Wing LARPers, I’m not just talking smack That’s literally how they actually see themselves.”
I want to be clear about something
When I say the Biden WH is run by West Wing LARPers, I'm not just talking smack
That's literally how they actually see themselves
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) August 4, 2021
At the end of the month, Biden was accused of stealing a line from the show while quoting President Abraham Lincoln in his address to the nation on Afghanistan withdrawal. You can see the comparison here:
Looks like @JackPosobiec was right…
They literally think they're the cast of "The West Wing" https://t.co/iUaiCswNsU pic.twitter.com/1wEUW9yY3y
— 🚨The Panda Tribune🚨 (@PandaTribune) August 31, 2021
Shortly after that, Psaki compared budget negotiations to TV shows. “As President Joe Biden tries to save his $3.5 trillion overhaul plan, Press Secretary Jen Psaki describes the White House’s role in negotiations like TV show,” the Associated Press reported.
“Well, this is why we all came to Washington, it’s like a TV show,” Psaki responded to one reporter. When asked which TV show, Psaki responded, “Maybe the West Wing, if something good happens, maybe Veep if not,” referring to the comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Biden has also been accused of copying Bartlett’s TV promise to end cancer within a decade. Both the fake president and real president have made similar comments, referencing President John F. Kennedy’s pledge to land a man on the moon within a decade. Here’s how the U.K.’s Independent covered his comments, which he actually made on more than one occasion:
In one episode of the series that ran from 1999 to 2006, Bartlet said: “I will bring the full resources of the federal government and the full reach of my office to this fundamental goal: we will cure cancer by the end of this decade.”
And it was suggested that on Wednesday Mr Biden struck a similar tone to Bartlet during his speech.
He said: “I can think of no more worthy investment. And I know of nothing that is more bipartisan.
“Let’s end cancer as we know it. It’s within our power.”
Regardless if the characters actually model themselves after specific characters from “The West Wing” or not, many have argued that Sorkin — the man behind the show as well as the TV show “The Newsroom” — has ruined politics, or at least the Democratic Party.
“I’ve been saying forever that the Aaron Sorkin-ization of American politics and the American political media is one of the most destructive developments of the past twenty years,” conservative radio host Larry O’Connor tweeted in reaction to Psaki’s comments.
I've been saying forever that the Aaron Sorkin-ization of American politics and the American political media is one of the most destructive developments of the past twenty years. https://t.co/6vc3pgHZNo
— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) February 22, 2022
But, don’t take a conservative’s word for it — listen to a lefty. In 2019, Vox ran an opinion column titled, “The West Wing is 20 years old. Too many Democrats still think it’s a great model for politics.” That article can be read here, if you want to see the delusion on full display or you can turn on the news and watch White House press briefings every day.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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