White House press secretary Jen Psaki claimed Wednesday that President Joe Biden had “saved Christmas” by delivering on his promise of stocked shelves ahead of the coming holiday.
Early Wednesday morning, Psaki shared a New York Times article titled “Why Christmas Gifts are Arriving on Time This Year” along with the comment, “Take that Scrooge, the Grinch and all of the doubters that this could happen. Also shelves are stocked at 90% (pre-pandemic levels are 91%).”
Take that Scrooge, the Grinch and all of the doubters that this could happen. Also shelves are stocked at 90% (pre-pandemic levels are 91%) https://t.co/THrlScmXwf
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) December 22, 2021
Psaki noted that in-store stock levels were nearly back to pre-pandemic levels — 90% now vs. 91% prior to the spread of COVID-19.
When someone commented on her tweet wondering when Republicans were going to acknowledge everything President Biden had done to untangle the supply chain and say “thank you,” Psaki replied simply, “Hard same.”
Psaki doubled down on the claim during Wednesday’s White House press briefing, once again citing the New York Times article and saying, “As The New York Times said today, Christmas gifts are arriving on time this year … Good news. We’ve saved Christmas & that is because President Biden recognized this challenge early, acted as an honest broker to bring key stakeholders together … and focused on addressing … problems across the global supply chain.”
Jen Psaki: “As The New York Times said today, Christmas gifts are arriving on time…Good news. We’ve saved Christmas & that is b/c President Biden recognized this challenge early, acted as an honest broker…& focused on addressing…problems across the global supply chain.” pic.twitter.com/LcokMvRHso
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) December 22, 2021
Psaki went on to tout several steps the Biden administration had taken to address specific problems in the supply chain, concluding, “So people can go purchase — purchase presents even at this point if they haven’t done their shopping.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg posted a similar tweet, bragging about the steps the Biden administration had taken to untangle the supply chain ahead of the Christmas holiday and claiming credit for “stocked shelves” and an expected retail boom.
“Shelves are stocked. Retailers anticipate their best year ever. That’s because workers, businesses – and our President & administration – stepped up,” Buttigieg tweeted.
Shelves are stocked.
Retailers anticipate their best year ever.
That’s because workers, businesses – and our President & administration – stepped up.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) December 22, 2021
But White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain did not appear to get the memo claiming that Biden was responsible for righting the ship, and he suggested that the supply chain kinks had simply been a collective hallucination shared by media.
Klain also shared the NYT article, but with a very different comment: “Merry Christmas to all, and to this over-hyped narrative, a Good Night.”
Merry Christmas to all, and to this over-hyped narrative, a Good Night. https://t.co/bXnvrUFmea
— Ronald Klain (@WHCOS) December 22, 2021
“Seems kinda hard to take credit for having turned the tide with the considerable number of supply chain actions the administration has touted in recent weeks if their position is it was all just a media narrative,” San Francisco Chronicle Washington correspondent Tal Kopan remarked.
And New York Post columnist Karol Markowicz noted that even Psaki’s tune had changed dramatically from months earlier, when she snapped at a reporter who had asked whether Christmas gifts could be expected to arrive on time. “We’re not the postal service,” Psaki said at the time.
According to the NYT article, Americans ordering and shipping gifts earlier than usual and shopping in stores rather than online were driving factors that allowed the majority of gifts to arrive on time.