WHAT?! Reporter Asks Psaki If WH Is Probing ‘Right-Wing Forces’ Helping Truckers

Monday marked another return to a full White House Briefing Room , for this episode of the Psaki Show, Reuters’s Andrea Shalal strayed into authoritarianism by asking Press Secretary Jen Psaki whether the Biden administration was investigating “conservative” and “right-wing forces in the U.S.” for supporting truck drivers in Canada protesting that government’s vaccine mandate.

Referring to the “situation…in Ottawa” with “the truckers protest,” Shalal showed her bias and aversion to non-left-wing protests with this odious view of conservatives and Republicans: “[T]here does seem to be evidence that these truckers are getting support from conservative forces or right-wing forces in the U.S.”

It’s a horror! The horror!

Shalal took that warped world view and, seeming to agree with the Canadian government’s framing of the truckers as insurrectionists, she wanted to know if the U.S. government would be going after right-leaning Americans for merely supporting the truckers:

Do you have any idea what is going on? Do you think there is any involvement by the U.S. authorities to look into these money flows that are going to truckers? Is it something you are concerned about?

Instead of dismissing the insanity of this call to prosecute political dissent, Psaki largely sidestepped the question and said she didn’t “have any update on that or any — any investigation to read out at this point in time” Concerning “an assessment of any other engagement.”

Psaki maintained the administration has “been engaged since the outset…of the protests” and could report that “[t]here have been zero impacts to CBP operations” even “some shipments were rerouted by our law enforcement partners to other points of entry due to road closures.”

Elsewhere, there was a flurry of solid questions about the Biden administration’s hypocrisy regarding employee conduct following A report on misbehaviorEric Lander, director of White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director.

Hours after reporters repeatedly hit Psaki by pointing to President Biden’s Take a pledge for workplace cultureLander quit on Inauguration day.

Oh, and The Grio’s April Ryan made her presence knownThis lame question was about whether President Biden consulted Anita Hill on the Supreme Court vacancy.

To see the relevant briefing transcript from February 7, click “expand.”

White House Press Briefing via ABC News Live
February 7, 2022
Eastern: 2:14 pm

ANDREA SHALAL [T]his situation on the Canadian bor — or in Ottawa, the truckers protest — there does seem to be evidence that these truckers are getting support from conservative forces or right-wing forces in the U.S. Are you investigating that at all? Are there any U.S. officials involved in looking into the money flowing to these truckers, or is that just speculation? Is it something you are concerned about?

PSAKI:  Well, I would say a couple of things. This doesn’t answer your question, but I just want to get this out there too on this particular topic, and then I’ll come around. I promise. We have been engaged since the outset — well, some of it hopefully answers your question, I should say — of the protests. CBP operations were not affected at all, which was a frequent question we have received. Some — some shipments were rerouted by our law enforcement partners to other points of entry due to road closures. Some shippers had to change their routes. CBP was in constant communication with shippers to make sure that shipments could be moved on the regular routes. In terms of an assessment of any other engagement from here, we have — we don’t really have any update on that or any — any investigation to read out at this point in time.