On the White Home briefing, a reporter requested if VP Harris was nonetheless engaged on the border as a result of she acquired a snack in Chicago. Jen Psaki knocked the query down.
Video:
Q: She (Harris) took time to go to a bakery in Chicago. Questioning. Is she nonetheless engaged on this (the border)?
Psaki: The vice chairman was visiting Chicago truly to speak about COVID and so whereas she was there, she acquired a snack. I believe she’s allowed to do this. pic.twitter.com/AAdixIwHqF
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) April 7, 2021
Transcript by way of The White Home as offered to PoliticusUSA:
Q So on immigration and the border, as we mentioned right here right this moment, Vice President Harris has been put in control of addressing the basis causes of the border disaster. Final Tuesday, she spoke with Guatemala’s president, however she hasn’t visited the border or Central America or spoken to the leaders of El Salvador or Honduras.
She was touring this week. Took time to go to a bakery in Chicago. I’m questioning, is she nonetheless engaged on this? And might you tackle the notion that she’s, form of, quietly backing off whereas Secretary Mayorkas is pursuing some Trump-era insurance policies, comparable to doubtlessly constructing new border limitations and doubtlessly prosecuting individuals who illegally cross a number of instances?
MS. PSAKI: There was an entire lot packed in there, so let me simply see what I can do right here.
First, I’d say the Vice President was visiting Chicago truly to speak about COVID and the significance of communities getting the vaccine when it’s obtainable and accessible to them. And so, whereas she was there, like many People, she acquired a snack. I believe she’s allowed to do this.
The implied that means of the query was that Vice President was going to Chicago as a substitute of doing her job.
Within the earlier administration, Mike Pence would vanish for days and weeks at a time, and nobody within the White Home press pool dared to ask the place he was, or why he was elsewhere as a substitute of main the COVID job pressure.
Nobody ever requested Barack Obama if Joe Biden was doing his job.
The identical is true for Dick Cheney through the Bush administration.
I’ve been protecting the White Home since 2004, and have by no means heard anybody query a male vice chairman’s actions.
Press Secretary Psaki knocked down the query with the reply that it deserved. Kamala Harris doesn’t want the permission of the boys folks to go to a bakery in Chicago whereas she is there to speak about COVID.
The rationale why so many within the company media felt a kinship with Trump is that they’re simply as sexist as he’s.
Vice President Harris needs to be held to the identical requirements as earlier VPs and meaning not asking sexist questions on if she is doing her job.
For extra dialogue about this story be a part of our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Observe and Like PoliticusUSA on Fb
Mr. Easley is the founder/managing editor, who’s White Home Press Pool, and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Diploma in Political Science. His graduate work targeted on public coverage, with a specialization in social reform actions.
Awards and Skilled Memberships
Member of the Society of Skilled Journalists and The American Political Science Affiliation