The press secretaries during the Biden administration were part of one of the biggest political cover-ups in U.S. history when they actively misled the American public on President Joe Biden’s fitness for office. But if you ask Karine Jean-Pierre or Jen Psaki, it is Karoline Leavitt – and Sean Spicer before her – who are the problem.
Just as KJP got through telling the ladies of The View that she does not think Leavitt understands that it is an “honor and a privilege to have that job and to speak on behalf of the most powerful person in the world,” Psaki accused Leavitt and Spicer of “diminishing” the role during a sit-down with two hysterical leftist podcasters.
On Wednesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine to discuss Psaki’s claim and why she is the last person who should be making that argument.
Psaki’s Claims
Psaki was a guest on the most recent episode of the I’ve Had It podcast hosted by Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan when she was asked about the current White House comms team.
After Sullivan asked whether corporate media outlets should boycott covering President Donald Trump and attending Leavitt’s press briefings, Psaki nixed the idea because she said it would be playing into their hands. Even so, she likened the expansion of White House press briefing room access and pool reporting to include new and independent media outlets to “the Kremlin press corp.”
Sullivan tried to defend her suggestion, arguing it is “precious for the United States to have a representative of the president to come out and talk about policy.” You see, that is why she is “enraged” by Leavitt.
“I am enraged every time I see Karoline Leavitt, who prays before she goes out there and lies her fat ass off. So she goes out there and lies and it’s propaganda after propaganda. Is there no check on that? Like… I guess there’s no law that the press secretary has to be honest, but, like… is there no rules or anything,” she asked. “I guess they don’t care about rules, but does that break your heart to see what it’s been turned into?”
Psaki took the bait. “It does. And I say this as obviously I worked in Democratic politics for 20-some years. I’m not shy about my views, but even for people like Dana Perino or, dare I say, even Sean Spicer. I don’t know if I should use him as an example,” she began. “It’s a very different briefing room now than it was then. Dana Perino is probably a better example of this.”
“I disagree with Bush on a bazillion things, right? But you had to go in there and answer questions from the same type of reporters and often the same reporters I had to answer questions from,” she added. “And this is a part of how the United States is unique as a democracy is that you do have a person who goes out there at the White House.”
In Psaki’s view, Leavitt is not living up to the lofty ideals she did. “It’s sad because there aren’t so many people who have ever done that job, and what it feels like it is diminishing the job,” she bemoaned. “It is diminishing the role of the press secretary, the honor of being in that job, which is speaking on behalf of the United States of America, which sometimes it’s edgy… a lot of times it’s not. Sometimes… people think it’s boring, but it’s important.”
“And this is really changing what it is and what the expectations are around it,” she continued. “And that is sad for the White House. It’s sad for the institution. It’s sad for anyone who’s had that job.”
Spicer Responds
Megyn joked that Psaki “almost paid [Spicer] a compliment” before deciding against it, which Spicer said he can’t take seriously given her history. “I think that for Jen Psaki, who had the phrase ‘circle back,’ to get up there and talk about integrity at the podium is a bit rich,” he said. “These guys covered up one of the biggest issues in modern history in terms of the physical and mental decline of the president of the United States and she has the gall to come on and tell other people how to do the job? I think she should sit this one out and talk about something else.”
In case that wasn’t bad enough, Spicer recalled that Psaki also once called Jean-Pierre the most qualified person to take over the job. “By every account, [that] was a lie,” he added. “So, I don’t get lectured by Jen on truth, integrity, and all that. She has a track record that speaks for itself.”
That track record extends, Megyn noted, to her current gig at MSNBC. “She continued her lying when she went to MSNBC, which is what you have to do to get hired there,” she said. “So, yeah, she is in no position.”
But it wasn’t just Psaki. Spicer also slammed Sullivan for her comments about Leavitt’s appearance. “I don’t mean to inject this, but to make fun of her body size, which is not true, I thought, for a bunch of folks in the left pride in this kind of stuff, that was actually rather uncalled for,” he said. “She’s a very beautiful woman. I don’t know what TV she is looking at, but that is simply not true.”
Megyn agreed: “Angie Sullivan in her wildest dreams wishes she looked like Karoline Leavitt.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Halperin, Spicer, and Turrentine by tuning in to episode 1,177 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.