‘Transparency back in briefing room’: Psaki pledges to meet pre-Trump press standards



[ad_1]

Psaki also said she would hold daily press briefings – a change from the previous administration, which would often go weeks without speaking to reporters. Former press secretary Stephanie Grisham did not have a single briefing during her tenure. Trump has often chosen to make major political and personnel announcements from his personal Twitter account. Psaki’s appearance on Wednesday was the first White House press briefing since December 15.

For the White House press corps and the news media in general, besieged by Trump for four years and denigrated as “fake news”, Psaki’s first responses from the podium set a new standard that the White House must now respect. But as Psaki’s remarks were directed to reporters in the briefing room, his audience was just as much the American people in an effort to reinforce the fact that the Biden administration was turning a page on the recent past of obscurity and lies. .

Psaki’s first appearance was a stark contrast to the Trump presidency’s first press briefing, where then-press secretary Sean Spicer insisted the crowd at Trump’s inauguration was the most great deal in US history – a claim that quickly turned out to be false with aerial photos of the event.

But all was not back to the pre-Trump days on Wednesday. The briefing room fell far short of Covid social distancing rules, and Psaki stepped out onto the lectern wearing an N-95 mask – a preventative measure former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany often refused. (Psaki took off her mask when she started to speak.)

Psaki too sketch a number of political goals and went through executive orders Biden signed as part of his first day in office. The orders rolled back some of the Trump administration’s signing actions, including increasing fortifications on the southern border and a travel ban to several predominantly Muslim countries. They also adopted a mask mandate in federal spaces to fight the coronavirus pandemic and sent the United States back to the Paris Climate Agreement.

Responding to questions about coronavirus relief, Psaki said Biden was “no stranger to the bill-crafting process,” and reiterated the president’s campaign commitment to working across the board. driveway to pass comprehensive relief legislation.

“We are at the start of the process,” Psaki said. “It rarely looks exactly like the original package offered.”

She also said that Dr.Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease specialist and one of the most public faces of Trump’s White House coronavirus efforts, would participate in a virtual meeting with the World Organization. of health. The move is a reversal of Trump’s plans to remove the United States from the global health body amid the pandemic.

Wednesday’s briefing was not Psaki’s first visit to the White House communications store. Prior to his current post, Psaki held several positions for President Barack Obama’s press operation and served as the State Department spokesperson following the end of Obama’s presidency.

Christopher Cadelago contributed to this report.

[ad_2]

Source link