Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich sparred with Press Secretary Jen Psaki over whether or not President Joe Biden actually had a “red line” with regard to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
Heinrich began with the news that her colleague, Fox News war correspondent Benjamin Hall, had been injured in Ukraine when the vehicle he was in was fired upon by Russian occupation forces. (It was later announced that longtime Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski was killed in that same incident.)
Noting that Biden had said as recently as February that the United States would “respond forcefully if Americans were targeted in Ukraine,” Heinrich asked whether or not the White House planned to respond to the news that Hall had been injured and former New York Times contributor Brent Renaud had been killed over the weekend as well.
.@JacquiHeinrich to Psaki: Biden "said…in February…the U.S. would respond forcefully if Americans were targeted in Ukraine. Brent Renaud was killed over the weekend. One of my colleagues (@BenjaminHallFNC) was injured today…So, what is that response going to look like?" pic.twitter.com/43ukelKZ3k
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
“Our thoughts, the president’s thoughts, our administration’s thoughts are with him, his family, and all of you at Fox News,” Psaki replied, although she said she had nothing more to add with regard to any additional steps the administration might be planning to take in response.
Psaki on @BenjaminHallFNC being hurt in Ukraine: "Our thoughts, the President's thoughts, our administration's thoughts are w/him, his family, & all of you at Fox News[.]"
She adds Biden has led the world in punishing Russia, but nothing "to preview" if more Americans are hurt pic.twitter.com/ZaareyNtsv
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
Heinrich pushed back on Psaki’s continued claims that President Biden had led the world on making sure that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “punished” for the war he continued to wage against Ukraine, arguing that Biden had not drawn a clear “red line” that would demand a response from the administration.
.@JacquiHeinrich: "But we've seen the President been so far unwilling to draw a red line on the kinds of atrocities that we're going to watch from the sidelines…Obama drew the redline for Syria at chemical weapons…Any thought process of what we are willing to watch happen[?]" pic.twitter.com/HRxKcVEdq8
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
“But we’ve seen the president been so far unwilling to draw a red line on the kinds of atrocities that we’re going to watch from the sidelines,” Heinrich continued, pointing to former President Barack Obama’s chemical weapons “red line” in Syria. “Any thought process of what we are willing to watch happen?”
Psaki pushed back, saying again that Biden had led the world in putting pressure on Putin. “I think it’s important to reiterate as much as we can that what we are seeing is horrific, what we’re seeing is barbaric and the steps that the president has taken and led the world in taking has essentially led the Russian financial system to be on the brink of collapse,” she said.
Psaki: "I think it's important to reiterate as much as we can that what we are seeing is horrific, what we're seeing is barbaric and the steps that the President has taken and led the world taken has essentially led the Russian financial system to be on the brink of collapse." pic.twitter.com/mxGZX5sQKG
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
“Is there a concern that if we don’t draw the line at something like chemical weapons, it’ll make it easier for malign actors to use them in the future because they’ll just go unpunished?” Heinrich continued to press, but Psaki argued that the world would certainly respond if it came to that.
“Well, Jacqui, I think that you heard the president say on Friday that there would be severe consequences and the world would respond if they were to use chemical weapons,” Psaki said. “And what we have been doing over the course of the last several weeks, if not months, is providing as much information to the global community, to the media, and to others about what to expect.”
“And when you have President Putin suggesting — and Russian — Russian officials suggesting that the United States and Ukrainians are the ones who are working on a chemical weapons program, it’s clear that this is a pattern that we’ve seen in the past of them trying to set up a predicate for their own actions,” she added.
“What does that end up looking like if the world responds?” Heinrich protested. “Because we’ve heard the president talk a lot about what the U.S. is not going to do … why wouldn’t we think that he would just create a pretext that is fabricated for something like that?”
“We do,” Psaki replied.
.@JacquiHeinrich: "What does that end up looking like if the world responds? B/c…we've heard the President talk a lot about what the U.S. is not going to do…Why wouldn't we think that he would just create a pretext that is fabricated for something like that."
Psaki: "We do." pic.twitter.com/DmMJtRJeZz
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022