Fox News Channel came to the defense of White House correspondent Peter Doocy after White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a Pod Save America taping that the questions Fox made him ask ‘might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b***h.’
‘In his role as White House correspondent, Peter Doocy’s job is to elicit truth from power for the American public. His questions are his own, he is a terrific reporter and we are extremely proud of his work,’ a spokesperson for Fox News Channel told DailyMail.com.
Psaki was asked Thursday night during the podcast’s D.C. taping at the Anthem concert venue if Doocy was a ‘stupid son of a b***h’ or just played one on TV.
‘He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b***h,’ Psaki replied during the Pod’s D.C. taping Thursday night.
The episode was released online Friday.
Earlier this month the news broke that Psaki was in talks with MSNBC to join the left-leaning network once she left her White House post.
Psaki also said President Joe Biden would not be traveling to Ukraine, despite him telling reporters Thursday morning that, ‘yeah,’ he was up for the trip.
‘No, no,’ she assured the podcast hosts. ‘He is ready, he’s ready for anything, the man likes a fast car, some aviators, he’s ready to go to Ukraine.’
‘We are not sending the president to Ukraine,’ Psaki said.
Press secretary Jen Psaki was a guest at a Pod Save America live taping Thursday night at the Anthem in Washington, D.C. and was asked if Fox News Channel’s White House correspondent Peter Doocy was a ‘stupid son of a b***h’ or just played one on TV
In January, President Joe Biden was caught on hot mic calling Peter Doocy (pictured) a ‘stupid son of a b***h,’ which was the genesis of the Pod Save America question
The press secretary pointed to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent trek to the wartorn country.
‘What I will tell you is that, what Boris Johnson did is he took, I believe, an eight-hour train through a war zone to get to the middle of Ukraine,’ she said. ‘So, no that is not in the plans for the president of the United States.’
‘We should all maybe be relieved about that,’ she added. ‘He’s got a few other things to do.’
Regarding her own future, Psaki wouldn’t give the podcast hosts a timeline for when she planned to step down.
‘I will not be there forever. That is what I can confer,’ she said.
‘I am not trying to be talking point-y in saying this is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s amazing in so many ways,’ she continued.
She said one of the greatest lessons she’s learned from giving briefings for the past 15 months is that ‘you’re not at a dinner party and you’re not at a bar,’ and so even if the questions get ‘repetitive’ she needed to answer them with respect, so a reporter couldn’t go online and ‘make you see like you’re Satan reincarnated.’
Fox News Channel’s John Roberts, a former White House correspondent, clapped back at Psaki on Twitter
Psaki tangled with reporters, including NBC News’ Kristen Welker, over whether it was ethical for her to be discussing future job opportunities with employers like MSNBC while holding the position of press secretary.
Psaki argued that she’s handling it ethically.
‘Well, there are a range of stringent ethical and legal requirements that are imposed on everybody in this administration and many administrations past about any conversations you’re having with future employers,’ Psaki said from the podium earlier this month. ‘That is true of any industry you’re working in. And I have abided by those, and tried to take steps to go beyond that as well.’
Some of the most viral exchanges she’s had in the briefing room are ones she’s had with Doocy.
In January, Biden was caught on hot mic calling the Fox News correspondent a ‘stupid son of a b***h’ – which was the inspiration for the question.
Fox News Channel’s John Roberts, a former White House correspondent, clapped back at Psaki on Twitter saying: ‘Note to Press Sec: Peter Doocy makes the decisions on what topics he wants to quiz you on, and develops the questions himself. His philosophy is a basic tenet of journalism. Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.’
‘If that makes all of us “stupid s.o.b.s”, so be it,’ Roberts added.
‘Can I tell a nice Peter Doocy story?’ Psaki asked after giving her assessment.
She recalled how after Biden knocked Doocy, the president called the reporter to apologize.
Psaki also told the Washington, D.C. audience Thursday night that President Joe Biden (pictured) would not be making a trip to Ukraine, after he expressed a willingness to go to the wartorn country earlier in the day
Doocy was then asked about the phone call on Sean Hannity’s show that night.
‘So he went on TV that night and I actually watched Sean Hannity to see what he said. My mind was like really bending and hurting,’ Psaki recalled. ‘If you can imagine, it was like flames and it was like “Crime! Crime! Crime!” and Kamala – the vice president is like walking through the flames and crime. I don’t even know what was happening.’
‘But Sean Hannity asked him about, you know, what the president had said and what he said back. And he could have been like, “He’s a son of a b***h” or “I’m standing up for …” whatever, he would have said anything. And instead he said, you know he called me, we had a really nice conversation, I’m just asking my questions, he’s doing his job,’ Psaki continued.
‘So I will say, that was a moment of grace, you don’t have to like everything Peter Doocy says or does, but that was certainly a moment of grace by Peter Doocy,’ the press secretary said.
On Hannity, Doocy said he didn’t hear Biden’s insult at first.
‘My reaction was delayed because as you can see the Biden staff were ushering us out. They were telling us thank you, time to go. It wasn’t until we went to the basement and then outside and then back to the press room that somebody said “Hey, did you hear with the president said about you?” I said, “No, what did he say?” “He called you a stupid SOB,”‘ Doocy recalled. ‘And I said “I did not hear that,” and I opened up my phone and… he did!’
Doocy said his cell phone rang with the president on the other line an hour later.
‘After years of clips of the president and I kind of mixing it up on the campaign trail and during the transition here at The White House, within about an hour of that exchange, he called my cell phone and he just said “It is nothing personal, pal.”
‘And we went back and forth and we were talking about moving forward and I made sure to tell him that I’m always going to try to ask something different than what everybody else is asking.
‘And he said, “You’ve got to.”
‘And that is the quote from the president, so I will keep doing it,’ he told Hannity.
Hannity asked Doocy if the president apologized.
‘He cleared the air. And I appreciate it. We had a nice call,’ Doocy replied.
Hannity expressed that he wasn’t satisfied.
‘To me that is not an answer. Did he apologize? That doesn’t sound like an apology,’ Hannity said, laughing.
‘He said, “It is nothing personal, pal,” and I told him I appreciated him reaching out,’ Doocy said.
‘Hey, Sean, the world is on the brink of like World War III right now. With all the stuff going on. I appreciate that the president took a couple minutes out as evening he was still the desk to give me a call and clear the air. But I don’t need anybody to apologize to me. He can call me whatever he wants as long as it gets him talking,’ Doocy continued.
‘The president said “Nothing personal pal.” It’s enough – we can move forward,’ the Fox News White House correspondent said.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk