Speaking on a live show for the podcast “Pod Save America,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki mocked Fox News and by extension their White House Correspondent Peter Doocy, snapping, “He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b****.”
Psaki was appearing for a live recording at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., on Thursday night, Mediaite noted.
A host asked her, “Before we go, I have to ask you a question.”
“Okay,” Psaki replied.
The host continued, “’Cause we have to talk about Peter Doocy for one second,” prompting laughter from the partisan audience.
“Okay,” Psaki agreed.
“Is he a stupid son of a b**** (laughter from audience) or does he play a stupid son of a b**** on TV?” the host prompted.
“Okay, well, he works for a network —” Psaki started.
“Okay,” the host interjected.
“ — that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b****,” Psaki finished.
In January, Doocy asked President Biden at a press conference, “Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?”
“No, it’s a great asset,” Biden answered, then was caught muttering on a hot mic, “More inflation. What a stupid son of a b****.”
“Doocy appeared on The Five not long after the soundbite went viral and seemed to take the remark in stride, even laughing at Jesse Watters’ joking that he agreed with the president’s assessment of Doocy as a stupid SOB,” AdWeek reported, adding that after Biden called Doocy to apologize, Doocy told Sean Hannity:
After years of clips of the president and kind of mixing it up on the campaign trail and during the transition, and here at the White House, within about an hour of that exchange, he called my cell phone and he said, “It’s nothing personal, pal.” And we went back and forth and we were talking about just kind of moving forward and I made sure to tell him that I’m always going to try to ask something different than what everybody else is asking. And he said, “You’ve got to.” And that’s a quote from the president. So I’ll keep doing it.
Psaki referenced that incident on the live show Thursday night, allowing that Doocy had behaved graciously when Biden later called to apologize. But then she condescended that Doocy had had a rare “moment of grace,”saying, “So, I will say, that was a moment of grace. You don’t have to like everything Peter Doocy says or does, but that is certainly a moment of grace by Peter Doocy.”
Fox News has issued a statement defending Doocy: “In his role as White House correspondent, Peter Doocy’s job is to elicit truth from power for the American public. His questions are his own, he is a terrific reporter and we are extremely proud of his work.”
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with Fox News’ statement.