OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki’s job is to make Joe Biden and Kamala Harris look as good as possible. A tough job when the people you represent are bumbling dimwits.
And on Monday Psaki did not do Bide or herself any favors when she tripped over herself in an attempt to explain the president’s hypocrisy on travel bans.
“Before Joe Biden was President, he said that COVID travel restrictions on foreign countries were ‘hysterical xenophobia’ and ‘fearmongering.’ So what changed?” Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy said.
“Well, I would say, first — to put it in full context, Peter — what the President was critical of was the way that the former President put out, I believe, a xenophobic tweet; and how he called — what he called the coronavirus; and who he directed it at,” Psaki said.
“The President has not been critical of travel restrictions. We have put those in place ourselves. We put them in place ourselves in the spring. But no, he does not believe — he believes we should follow the advice of health and medical experts. That’s exactly what he did in putting in place these restrictions over the weekend,” she said.
But is that true? Let’s take a look.
When Donald Trump was in the White House, he introduced a travel ban on China and Africa and later some part of Europe to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and he was excoriated by Biden, who was a candidate for president.
“Trump further diminished the U.S. in the eyes of the world by expanding his travel ban. This new ‘African Ban,’ is designed to make it harder for black and brown people to immigrate to the United States. It’s a disgrace, and we cannot let him succeed,” he said on February 1 2020.
Trump further diminished the U.S. in the eyes of the world by expanding his travel ban. This new “African Ban,” is designed to make it harder for black and brown people to immigrate to the United States. It’s a disgrace, and we cannot let him succeed. https://t.co/oePD5eSAWY
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) February 2, 2020
The person who is now Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, expressed the same concerns on the same day.
“Trump’s extended un-American travel ban undermines our nation’s core values. It is clearly driven by hate, not security,” she said.
Trump’s extended un-American travel ban undermines our nation’s core values. It is clearly driven by hate, not security. https://t.co/x0fHFKRHWo
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 1, 2020
Well, gosh, neither Biden nor Harris mentioned any specific tweets and they do appear to be against this “African ban.” You know, like the “African ban” they initiated on Monday.
In fact, it appears that these two were really against travel bans. In fact, Biden tweeted about another ban again around a month later saying how futile these bans were.
“A wall will not stop the coronavirus. Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it. This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it,” he said.
A wall will not stop the coronavirus.
Banning all travel from Europe — or any other part of the world — will not stop it.
This disease could impact every nation and any person on the planet — and we need a plan to combat it.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) March 13, 2020
But Doocy went further, citing more Biden hypocrisy.
“We saw the President shopping indoors on Saturday behind glass that says “face-covering required,” but his face was uncovered. Why?” he said.
“The President is somebody who follows the recommendations and the advice of the CDC. I don’t know what the circumstances were of that particular moment,” she said.
That did not really answer the question. Let’s try again.
“He was shopping in a store. And on the glass outside, it said ‘face-covering required,’ and we could see him inside and his face was uncovered,” the Fox News correspondent pressed.
“Well again, Peter, our recommendation and advice continues to be for people to wear masks when they are required in establishments. I don’t know what this establishment was. The President obviously follows the health — the advice of his health and medical team,” Psaki said.
Hmmmmm. Still not really a satisfactory answer. Let’s take another tack.
“Is there concern that when the President says today ‘Please wear your mask indoors in public settings around other people’ and he doesn’t do that, that it’s going to make it harder to get people to follow him?” he said.
“I think you see — the American people and all of you see the President wearing a mask every time he comes out to an event, when he’s sitting in meetings. And certainly, he will continue to model behavior he hopes the American people will follow — not for his benefit, but to save their own lives and the lives of their friends and neighbors,” the press secretary said.
As we said, her job is not simple.
