White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki attempted to deflect criticism on Thursday over the Biden administration’s numerous struggles by saying that they just don’t see it that way and that they are not trying to see if people support “bunny rabbits and ice cream.”
“Frankly, things just seem like they’re going pretty poorly right now,” a reporter told Psaki, “Build Back Better’s being blocked, voting rights is being blocked, diplomatic talks with Russia doesn’t seem to have brought us back from the brink of war, inflation is at a 40 year high, the virus is setting records for infections.”
“So, as we kind of hit this one year period, and a period where everything seems like it’s in pretty rough shape for nearly everything, which is not an invitation, I guess, to list off some other things. I’m wondering at what point do you take stock and say that things need to change internally, whether it’s your outreach for the Hill, whether it’s the leadership within the White House, you seem to be stymied on an incredible number of fronts right now,” the reporter added.
Psaki responded by spinning the administration’s accomplishments and highlighting a couple successes they’ve had, like passing the infrastructure bill.
“The fact that we are still continuing to work with members to determine the path forward on Build Back Better, that we have the vast majority of Democrats in the Senate supporting voting rights,” she continued. “That’s a path forward for us. And our effort is to do hard things, try hard things, and keep at it. So, we just don’t see it through the same prism.”
“So the sense is things are going well, there’s no need for change right now?” the reporter pressed.
“I think that having worked in a White House before, you do hard things in White Houses, you have every challenge laid at your feet, whether it’s global or domestically,” Psaki answered. “And we could certainly propose legislation to see if people support bunny rabbits and ice cream, but that wouldn’t be very rewarding to the American people. So the president’s view is we’re going to keep pushing for hard things, and we’re going to keep pushing the boulders up the hill to get it done.”
WATCH:
.@justinsink: "So, the sense is things are going well?"@PressSec: "You do hard things in White Houses…We could certainly propose legislation to see if people support bunny rabbits and ice cream but that wouldn’t be very rewarding to the American people." pic.twitter.com/Urkc2CVyzi
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 13, 2022
TRANSCRIPT:
REPORTER: I had a couple specific ones, but I wanted to kind of follow on that. As you’re determining next steps, I mean, frankly, things just seem like they’re going pretty poorly right now. For the White House, you know, Build Back Better’s being blocked, voting rights is being blocked, diplomatic talks with Russia doesn’t seem to have brought us back from the brink of war, inflation is at a 40 year high, the virus is setting records for infections. So, as we kind of hit this one year period, and a period where everything seems like it’s in pretty rough shape, or nearly everything, which is not an invitation, I guess, to list off some other things. I’m wondering at what point do you take stock and say that things need to change internally, whether it’s your outreach for the Hill, whether it’s the leadership within the White House; you seem to be stymied on an incredible number of fronts right now.
JEN PSAKI, PRESS SECRETARY: Well, let me give you a little bit of a different take on this. More than 200 million people are vaccinated, we’ve had record job growth, record low unemployment rates, historically, in this country over the last year. We’ve rebuilt our alliances and our relationships around the world. And right now, as it relates to Russia, as you heard our national security adviser convey, we’re working with partners around the world to convey very clearly, it’s up to them to make a choice about what’s next. We’re not going to make that on their behalf. It’s up to them to determine if there are going to be crippling economic sanctions or not, or if they decide to move forward. But we also recognize when you have a small margin and threshold in the Senate, it’s very difficult to get things done and to get legislation passed. And the fact that the president, under his leadership, got the American Rescue Plan passed, a bipartisan infrastructure bill with 19 votes in the Senate, about six votes in the House. The fact that we are still continuing to work with members to determine the path forward on Build Back Better, that we have the vast majority of Democrats in the Senate supporting voting rights. That’s a path forward for us. And our effort is to do hard things, try hard things, and keep at it. So we just don’t see it through the same prism.
REPORTER: So the sense is things are going well, there’s no need for change right now?
PSAKI: I think that having worked in a White House before, you do hard things in White Houses, you have every challenge laid at your feet, whether it’s global or domestically. And we could certainly propose legislation to see if people support bunny rabbits and ice cream, but that wouldn’t be very rewarding to the American people. So the president’s view is we’re going to keep pushing for hard things, and we’re going to keep pushing the boulders up the hill to get it done.