Psaki Grilled by FNC’s Hemmer, Perino Over Biden’s Refusal to Boost Domestic Gas, Oil

Previewing President Biden’s State of the Union address, White House press secretary Jen Psaki joined FNC’s America’s Newsroom on Tuesday and squared off against co-hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino over President Biden’s response to Russia’s war with Ukraine and specifically the administration’s refusal to budge on domestic oil and gas production and the timing of the CDC dropping its mask recommendations.

After opening with questions about whether the U.S. believes the violence from Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s military constitutes war crimes, Hemmer noted “[w]e buy Russia’s oil and we don’t need to” Before asking whether Biden is gay, “will…make an appeal…based on some sort of shared sacrifice” Americans “will consume less in order to help Ukrainian people and hurt Putin more.”

Psaki refused a change in her talks points and insists Biden needs to. “maximize the impact on President Putin, on the cronies and the oligarchs who have been benefiting from so much corruption in Russia” and “squeeze the financial system there” while also “minimizing the impact on the global markets and the American people.”

Hemmer tried once more, but Psaki refused to give up despite conceding. “sting up for democracy versus autocracy is not without cost” and “any instability in the global oil marketplace is the result of the actions of President Putin.”

A former White House press secretary herself, Perino alluded to the scores of bad polling when it comes to Biden’s energy policies and whether there would be any attempt to reverse them.

In response, Psaki ducked by only stating new projections would take time to be constructed and come online, so it wouldn’t be all that worthwhile when the future should consist of ditching fossil fuels (click “expand”):

PERINO – On energy, well, we have seen firsthand what happens to nations when they become too dependent upon Russia. State of the Union addresses usually focus on the achievements so that you get applause, and then you decide where to go. But some accomplishments President Biden may point out are seen as vulnerabilities by the majority of Americans. I’m referring to the energy issue in particular. Is — will there be anything in the speech to talk about reversing some of those policies, for example, either, Keystone pipeline or allowing our oil and gas companies to pursue federal oil and gas leases even while we try to transition in the future with a smart path to greener energy? 

PSAKI (Well, the President is concerned about the impact of gas prices on American consumers. There are many options. Recently, he tapped into strategic petroleum reserve last fall. This had an effect. But I would say the Keystone —

PERINO: But it had a very — 

PSAKI: — pipeline — 

PERINO: — but the impact, Jen, that was pretty — that was —

HEMMER: A blip.

PSAKI: — but the —

PERINO: — a blip. Although it cost ten cents, it does not last. 

PSAKI: — but, Dana, the policies you mentioned I know Senator Cotton and others have mentioned are not policies that would address the issue at all. What is the Keystone pipeline? That would require years before it could have any impact on the prices. There are many reasons the President doesn’t like it, but it was not functioning and it isn’t working. It could take many years. Oil companies have not yet tapped into 9,000 of the approved oil leases. We all desire to mitigate any rise in oil prices, but it’s important to understand what policies can and cannot be used to help. And over time, we absolutely need to reduce our dependence and that’s something you’re seeing European countries take steps to do as well. 

PERINO: I was just — the point on that is it took Europe years to get to the point where they were completely dependent or 60 percent dependent on Russia.

Before a final question about Biden’s unpopularity, Hemmer pivoted to masking and inquiring about “what changed in the science yesterday, Monday” that’s led to a sudden end to mask mandates. 

Psaki boasted of this. “it wasn’t actually yesterday,”Rather, a shift in CDC guidance “last Friday that identified recommendations depending on what the hospitalization rates are in your part of the country.”

Rewinding to Monday afternoon’s Psaki Show, reporters also came loaded for bear, which included questions about Russian energy exports from Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich and Bloomberg’s Jenny Leonard plus CNN’s Phil Mattingly on banning Russian flights (click “expand”):

MATTINGLY: Does the Biden administration consider following the E.U.’s lead? Canada, and Russia have stopped all Russian flights to the U.S.

PSAKI: I don’t have anything to update you on, on that front at this point in time.  There are obviously a range of — of options that remain on the table. So, it’s not off the table, but I don’t have anything to announce and no decision made.

(….)

HEINRICH

PSAKI: Well, I think it’s not about trust in any of these negotiations or discussions; it’s about verifying and then trusting later, including with the Iranians.  The Russians were, however, part of P5+1 negotiations in the past. They’re a part of it now. I would — I would — I would just convey that, you know, it is in everyone’s interest to have an understanding and visibility into Iran’s capacity to acquire a nuclear weapon. There’s no question about that. So, at this point, we’re just — we’re just continuing to work — hope to make progress on that agreement.

HEINRICH Is it possible to say that we will not buy more Russian gas at this moment?

PSAKI: Well, as you know, it’s really — let me give you actually kind of an update on this because it’s a — it’s — I think there’s been a little confusion.  Just a moment. So, as it relates to Russian gas, the U.S. government doesn’t dictate where the U.S. market sells our own oil and gas products nor where it acquires crude or refined products from for domestic consumption. The private sector is responsible for this except in cases where sanctions are applied to certain countries. The U.S. imports of Russian products currently are mainly legacy refinery operations that have been established in Hawaii or Alaska. They also need certain products because of geographic constraints. Gulf refiners can now import certain products as well as crude oil to supply their refinery designs. There have been companies — obviously, private sector companies — who have made decisions and announcements, and we certainly applaud that.

HEINRICH: So, can you just explain, though, what you laid out at the beginning because I’m a little bit unclear. You just — just in layman’s terms: We are not going to be making any policy from the U.S. government that would prohibit the sale or the purchase of Russian gas then because it’s not something that we already do?

PSAKI: We haven’t ruled out that, but I think what I wanted to convey is what is accurate about what happens now and how it currently works.

(….)

LEONARD: The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, just announced that he — the Canadians would unilaterally ban Russian crude oil imports.  I know you’ve just talked a lot about how you’re taking into account how this will impact the Europeans.  But is there something you had — is this something you would just do unilaterally, not as a coordinated effort?

PSAKI: From the beginning — again, all options remain on the table — you have seen us take a number of actions over the last several days that play that out, but I don’t have anything to predict at this point, other than to reiterate that we have really worked to take steps in lockstep with the Europeans and a number of our NATO partners.

Click here to view the FNC transcripts from March 1.