White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during Tuesday’s press briefing that President Joe Biden wants to use the current circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to “make fundamental change in our economy” and that if the opportunity is not taken now, then Democrats may not be able to do it “for some time.”
“The president wants to make fundamental change in our economy, and he feels coming out of the pandemic is exactly the time to do that,” Psaki said. “And if we don’t do it now, if we don’t address the cost of childcare, to go back to Josh’s question earlier, if we don’t address the climate crisis, if we don’t ensure that universal pre-k is a reality now, we’re not going to have the same opportunity to do it for some time.”
WATCH:
PSAKI: "The President wants to make fundamental change in our economy and he feels coming out of the Pandemic is exactly the time to do that."
THEY JUST SAID THE QUIET PART OUT LOUD. pic.twitter.com/321PpAPIp0
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) October 12, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
REPORTER: One follow up on a earlier question, you referenced Speaker Pelosi’s press conference this morning. It seemed like she somewhat backtracked from her message yesterday about what, you know, sort of path Democrats would need to take if there are fewer dollars, it seemed like she was indicating that programs, fewer programs, done well would be the preference. But then this morning, said that the first thing to go would be the timeline. So has the President given any sort of a push in either direction on this?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is all part of the discussion. And I will let you convey or ask questions of Speaker Pelosi herself, she’s, as we see, saw this morning, more than capable of speaking on her own behalf. But what she was conveying is that while it was the preference, her preference, the President’s preference, to have the initial package proposed, what our focus now is on is building a real tangible package that can become law and is going to make a transformational difference in people’s lives. So I understand and we all know why we’re talking here about the size and the cuts, etc. But a cut, it’s not a cut, just because someone wants proposed something bigger on paper. It’s not a path. It’s not a bill or a policy that’s going to change lives if nothing has passed. And that’s what we’re working through. There’s a lot of ways to do that. And that’s the discussion she’s having with her caucus. And the President is of course, playing a prominent role in.
REPORTER: So, the president doesn’t prefer then one avenue or the other?
PSAKI: The president wants to make fundamental change in our economy, and he feels coming out of the pandemic is exactly the time to do that. And if we don’t do it now, if we don’t address the cost of childcare, to go back to Josh’s question earlier, if we don’t address the climate crisis, if we don’t ensure that universal pre-k is a reality now, we’re not going to have the same opportunity to do it for some time.