White House press secretary Jen Psaki was put on defense during a sit-down interview with ‘CBS Mornings’ when anchor Gayle King the Biden administration’s ‘very bad behavior.’
‘[Biden] appears to be under the gun on so many different levels,’ King said.
‘That’s what you do as president – you navigate crises,’ Psaki shot back. ‘You weather storms and we’re certainly doing that right now.’
On the heels of the frenzied Afghanistan withdrawal, Psaki said that President Biden would at the United Nations General Assembly portray a message that ‘we’re not going to look inward after a 20 year war, we’re going to look outward at what is most important to address.’
‘Its good to say we’re going to look outward but we can’t ignore what’s happened before,’ King said.
‘We’re still getting hammered for how the withdrawal from Afghanistan happened … we all agree that’s not a good look,’ she continued.
‘That’s what you do as president – you navigate crises,’ Jen Psaki, above, said when CBS’ Gayle King said that Biden appears to be ‘under the gun.’ ‘You weather storms and we’re certainly doing that right now’
!['You look at what's happening with immigration, you look at France now saying they've been betrayed by the US, so I get that we have to look forward but what are we doing to justify, to explain what appears to be very bad behavior on our part?' King asked Psaki](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/21/19/48210763-10014059-image-a-14_1632250048106.jpg)
‘You look at what’s happening with immigration, you look at France now saying they’ve been betrayed by the US, so I get that we have to look forward but what are we doing to justify, to explain what appears to be very bad behavior on our part?’ King asked Psaki
![White House press secretary Jen Psaki was put on defense during a sit-down interview with 'CBS Mornings' when anchor Gayle King the Biden administration's 'very bad behavior.'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/21/19/48210551-10014059-image-a-13_1632249297822.jpg)
White House press secretary Jen Psaki was put on defense during a sit-down interview with ‘CBS Mornings’ when anchor Gayle King the Biden administration’s ‘very bad behavior.’
‘You look at what’s happening with immigration, you look at France now saying they’ve been betrayed by the US, so I get that we have to look forward but what are we doing to justify, to explain what appears to be very bad behavior on our part?’
‘We don’t see it that way,’ Psaki replied, admitting that France was ‘displeased’ with the US for stepping in on their market of selling submarines to Australia as part of the AUKUS deal.
France, miffed at what it considered a backroom deal, recalled its ambassador to the US last week.
‘But we have a long, abiding friendship with them that is going to endure,’ Psaki added.
King and her co-anchors also pressed Psaki on the images of border officials trying to get a handle on the sudden influx of Haitian migrants at the southern border.
Psaki said the images and video were ‘horrific’ and would be investigated. Video and images circulated yesterday where Border Patrol officers pushed migrants back to the Mexico side of the Rio Grande. In some images, officers are swinging the reins of their horses toward migrants in a display that some characterized as whipping.
![A Border Patrol officer is swinging what appears to be a lariat while trying to stop Haitian migrants from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/21/19/48159135-10014059-A_Border_Patrol_officer_is_swinging_what_appears_to_be_a_lariat_-a-1_1632249248386.jpg)
A Border Patrol officer is swinging what appears to be a lariat while trying to stop Haitian migrants from entering an encampment on the banks of the Rio Grande near the Acuna Del Rio International Bridge
![The devastating images were captures as migrants were trying to return to their encampment from Mexico, where they were buying much-needed supplies](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/21/19/48159133-10014059-The_devastating_images_were_captures_as_migrants_were_trying_to_-a-3_1632249250766.jpg)
The devastating images were captures as migrants were trying to return to their encampment from Mexico, where they were buying much-needed supplies
As many as 15,000 Haitian migrants had set up camp under the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, as border officials stiffened their spines and ramped up evacuation flights and border enforcement, sending many migrants back across the Rio Grande toward Mexico of their own volition.
Many of those who lived in the camp trekked to the United States from South and Central America, where they had been living since escaping Haiti following a devastating earthquake in 2010.
Others fled to the United States after another devastating earthquake killed more than 2,000 people in the island nation and amid the political turmoil caused by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in his home the month before.
But as of Monday, more than 6,000 Haitians and other migrants have been removed from the camp that once housed nearly 15,000 migrants, the Associated Press reports.
The rapid expulsions were made possible by a pandemic-related authority adopted by former President Donald Trump in March 2020 that allows migrants to be immediately removed from the country without an opportunity to seek asylum.
A federal judge has ordered the Biden administration to stop using the provision to deport families, but stayed the order until the end of September. The Biden administration has appealed the ruling.
Of the roughly 11,000 migrants who remain, 8,000 are part of family groups, according to the Washington Post.
![The migrants had been crossing back and forth between Mexico and the United States for days to collect supplies](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/21/19/48177719-10014059-The_migrants_had_been_crossing_back_and_forth_between_Mexico_and-a-9_1632249269542.jpg)
They were seen moving across a yellow string across the river, with some holding children and supplies above their heads
![They were seen moving across a yellow string across the river, with some holding children and supplies above their heads](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/21/19/48179359-10014059-They_were_seen_moving_across_a_yellow_string_across_the_river_wi-a-11_1632249278149.jpg)
They were seen moving across a yellow string across the river, with some holding children and supplies above their heads
![So far this year, about 19,000 Haitian migrants have requested asylum in Mexico](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/21/19/48179327-10014059-So_far_this_year_about_19_000_Haitian_migrants_have_requested_as-a-7_1632249267387.jpg)
So far this year, about 19,000 Haitian migrants have requested asylum in Mexico
Biden, too, touted the pullout from Afghanistan as he addressed the annual conference of world leaders at the UN.
‘I stand here today, for the first time in 20 years the United States not at war. We’ve turned the page. All the unmatched strength, energy and commitment, will and resources of our nation now fully and squarely focused on what’s ahead of us. Not what was behind,’ Biden said.
‘I know this, as we look ahead, we will lead,’ he continued. ‘We will lead on all the greatest challenges of our time.’
‘But we will not go it alone,’ Biden added. ‘We will lead together with our allies and partners and in cooperation with all those that believe, as we do, that this is within our power to meet these challenges, to build a future that enlists all of our people, [and] preserves this planet.’
He said that by ending 20 years of conflict in Afghanistan the United States was concluding ‘this period of relentless war’ by ‘opening a new era of relentless diplomacy.’
‘Today many of our greatest concerns cannot be solved or even addressed through the force of arms,’ Biden said. ‘Bombs and bullets cannot defend against COVID-19 or its future variants.’