White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki faced intense questions on Tuesday over a variety of issues facing the administration as it battles low approval ratings from the American public.
One reporter pressed Psaki on the “thin” public schedule released for President Joe Biden and asked what Biden was doing today. The inquiry came as questions have continued to swirl about Biden’s mental fitness for office.
“Well, let’s see. The President has two local interviews he will be doing later this afternoon,” Psaki responded. “He has a number of internal meetings with senior members of his staff that have happened throughout the course of the day today, his Presidential Daily Brief and I believe there’s some mayors who are visiting today as well.”
“What’s the purpose of the meeting with the mayors?” the reporter asked.
“It’s not a meeting with the President with the mayors,” Psaki said. “They’re here, I’m not going to get ahead of it beyond that.”
WATCH:
Jen Psaki cites “mayors who are visiting” the White House today as one of Biden’s public events, then says Biden is not actually meeting with them. pic.twitter.com/Sj9TYySQon
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 14, 2021
Psaki was later pressed on foreign policy, specifically, what the administration views as its biggest foreign policy achievements during Biden’s first year in office.
“I would ask you, what does the administration consider your biggest achievement in foreign policy in this first year?” a reporter asked Psaki. “And also what lessons have you learned from what is arguably the biggest failure, which is Afghanistan?”
Psaki did not answer the question.
“You know, this is a great question, I want to be thoughtful about it,” Psaki responded. “I want to talk to the President about it, and I’m happy to do that.”
WATCH:
REPORTER: “What does the administration consider your biggest achievement in foreign policy?”
JEN PSAKI: “This is a great question. I want to be thoughtful about it. I want to talk to the president about it.” pic.twitter.com/0BK2iOih0u
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 14, 2021
“Why is it that there are still Americans stranded in Afghanistan?” a reporter later asked Psaki.
“Well, I think, let me just reiterate something that Tony Blinken said back in August, which is that if Americans who were in Afghanistan wanted to leave, whether it was three weeks from now, a month from now, two months from now, back in August, we would help them get out,” Psaki responded. “And that is something that we’ve delivered on our word on. I would note that since that time, we’ve directly assisted 479 American citizens, 450 lawful permanent residents, and SIV holders and SIV applicants to depart Afghanistan. That was, that’s important to convey because it’s, it’s important for people to understand who were there that even if they decided not to, even if they decided not to today, we are still going to help them to part and there’s evidence of that.”
“479 left behind is a lot higher than the 100 to 200 that President Biden was talking about at the end of August,” the reporter responded.
“479 who we’ve helped depart since August,” Psaki responded.
“Right. You said that he thought that there were, we believe there are 100 to 200 with some intention to leave,” the reporter responded. “So half the number, how did you guys get the numbers?”
“There were people who wanted, determined they wanted to leave since then,” Psaki claimed without citing evidence, “and it is our responsibility to help them depart. So that’s evidence of our commitment to do exactly that.”
WATCH:
Doocy: "479 left behind is a lot higher than the 100 to 200 that President Biden was talking about at the end of August….He said that he thought that there were…100 to 200 with some intention to leave. So, how does a number–how'd you guys get the numbers?" pic.twitter.com/UESCDXJrEy
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 14, 2021