On Wednesday, the Psaki show featured sharp questions from Edward Lawrence and Peter Doocy about the effect of President Biden’s ban on Russian oil. Chiefly, questions from Fox News’s Peter Doocy and Fox Business’s Edward Lawrence led Psaki to struggle to defend the White House’s policies on inflation, gas prices, and a refusal to support expanded domestic energy production.
First, to Lawrence’s fact-checking of Team Biden. He began by calling out their continued flaunting of “green energy” as Americans struggle to stay afloat, let alone purchase an electric car.
“Gas prices have risen…every month since the President has been in office. So, is the feeling then…that the American people just have to wait until 2030 when the President set his goal for…cars being sold with zero emissions,” He was curious.
Psaki said they’re not doing that and it’s “never been our theory” and, on gas prices, she argued Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s entirely to blame.
Lawrence added to the request that Lawrence state her support for Lawrence after she gave her quotes (even though they were actually warning about additional increases). “what specifically the administration has done…to bring down inflation.”
Psaki offered a lengthy answer that amounted to little, ranging from “reduc[ing] [port] bottlenecks” to semiconductor legislation to claims that “we’ve seen inflationary pressure — or inflationary numbers go down month to month — even as we looked at the year-to-year numbers go up.”
Doocy Time arrived just a minute later. It started off with a simple query: “Why did you guys decide to rebrand the rise in gas prices as the ‘#PutinPriceHike.’” This was followed by another part.
[W]For months, the President has been warning that gas prices would rise because of the demand and the supply chain. Why aren’t we hearing it now, if you knew this for months?
After Psaki doubled down, Doocy shifted to drilling, with the Biden flack suggesting permitting was all that needed to happen before drilling (which the American Petroleum Institute has fact-checked) (click “expand”):
DOOCY: [Y]ou and the President are both talking about producing energy here, saying that oil and gas companies “have 9,000 permits to drill now. They could be drilling right now.” Would President Biden cut red tape to make that possible?
PSAKI – What paperwork needs to be cut once they have their permits? They are able to accomplish it. What’s holding them up?
DOOCY – Does President Biden believe that every one of the 9,000 leases available has oil or gas? Because industry experts are saying that “that accusation is a complete red herring”; “some permits are viable and some are not”; and that when you say that, “This represents a fundamental misunderstanding as to how this process works.”
PSAKI: Well, first of all, the — nearly 60 percent of leased acres remain non-producing — that’s a lot — in the range of 20 million acres, so there are 9,000 unused approved permits to drill in. They should not require — that should not require us inviting them to do that. They can do it themselves.
DOOCY: But you said they can’t get the additional permits, so would the President —
PSAKI: Which additional permits are they required? There’s no — they have — the leases are there. They have the permits. I don’t think they need an embroidered invitation to drill. Their oil companies are the ones that do this. What is — what is happening —
DOOCY: It’s not an embroidered invitation, it’s a federal permit.
PSAKI: — what is happening — what is ha- — but what was is — the permits have been granted, Peter.
DOOCY: It’s not just one permit though. Would you —
PSAKI: What is happening here is that we are seeing — these are private sector companies. That is something we recognize. They are making huge profits. This is all we can see. This information is available publicly. Investors and shareholders are under pressure from them to pay back cash. What we’re saying right now is: There is a war. We’re asking them to go use the approved permits, use the unused space, and go get more supply out of the ground in our own country.
Doocy tried making things easier by asking questions “a restart of the Keystone XL construction”It is “completely off the table as long as Joe Biden is President.”
Psaki responded that Doocy was the right answer “tell” Her “what that would help address,” Fox correspondent Michael Fox noted that the Administration has made statements “all options are on the table” During an energy crisis
Doocy also wondered why we’re not partnering with “a friendly ally,” but Psaki maintained “the pipeline is just the delivery mechanism” and “not an oil field.”
Doocy tried one last time on Keystone restarting, but Psaki sniped that “it would not address any of the problems we’re having.”
Then, we can go back to the beginning. New York Post’s Steven Nelson drew some ugly answers from Psaki when it came to Florida’s parental rights legislation that leftists have co-opted as a “Don’t Say Gay” bill. For Nelson, he pointed out Biden’s hypocrisy on the issue dating back to 1994.
In addition, he asked about government cybersecurity as it relates to allegations raised in the Durham probe (click “expand”):
NELSON: Regarding the Florida bill: In 1994, when many of us in this room were in school, President Biden actually voted for a much broader restriction that banned federal funds from being used for, “the promotion of homosexuality as a positive lifestyle alternative.” Why did he do that? Can you explain how your thinking evolved throughout the years?
PSAKI: Well, I think that you have seen the President speak passionately about his view that a bill like this — a bill that would discriminate against families, against kids, put these kids in a position of not getting the support they need at a time where that’s exactly what they need — is discriminatory. It’s a form of bullying. This is a horrible act. That is what the President said. Looking back at his remarks and opinions 25 years ago I believe the main question right now is why Florida leaders think they have to discriminate against LGBTQI kids. Is it meanness? Are they being mean? Does it want to cause more trouble in schools and in the communities where they live? If they don’t answer, I will ask them that question. We can discuss it further tomorrow.
(….)
NELSON: Was there a reason he supported the same policy, though, in the ’90s when we were all in school?
PSAKI: I think what’s important to note here is how outspoken the President has been against discrimination against kids, against members of the LGBTQI+ community and what we’re looking at here is a bill that would propagate misinformed, hateful policies and impact children — so that’s the question I hope — maybe you can pose that to some of the leaders in Florida. Maybe they’ll return your phone calls and I’ll look forward to having a conversation with you.
(….)
NELSON: [A]ccording to a recent court filing by Special Counsel Durham, there was a technology executive who was, “mining” the Executive Office of the President’s DNS traffic and other data. CISA, the federal agency for cybersecurity, said in a 2020 document that DNS data can be sensitive and that’s important to secure. You can find multiple narratives about which data was involved. We would appreciate it if you could share what data was involved and what security concerns the White House may have regarding this review.
PSAKI – I don’t have anything else to say…This is an investigation. You can contact the Department of Justice and members of Congress. Obviously, we have serious respect for people’s privacy in the country.
Following Nelson, Real Clear Politics’s Philip Wegmann pointed out the fact that we’re “to believe that,” while we’re “preparing to send billions in aid” to the war-torn country, there’s a “logistical bottleneck…stopping us from getting” Polish aircraft fly to Ukraine
Psaki said it was indeed a problem. But Wegmann responded after being briefed. tweetedPhoto of jets actually being transported on railcars
To see the relevant briefing transcript from March 9 (including important Venezuela questions from CBS’s Ed O’Keefe and one from HuffPost’s S.V. Click here for Date’s pathetic admission of weakness to Russia, as he laments the effects of sanctions on Russian citizens.
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