Jen Psaki Says She Won't Let Misinformation 'Brew and Boil' in White House Briefing Room
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said she will not allow misinformation to "brew and boil" in the briefing room and suggested she will confront propaganda if reporters from certain outlets introduce it.
Psaki gave an interview to Mediaite's Tommy Christopher, which was published early on Saturday, and discussed her role as press secretary and specifically her exchanges with Fox News' Pete Doocy.
Doocy and Psaki have had tense exchanges several times and videos of those exchanges have previously been widely shared on social media and reported by news outlets.
Christopher highlighted the fact that despite their clashes, Doocy had praised Psaki "for being willing to take tough questions" and asked her if she had anything to say to the Fox News reporter.
"You know I would say that people don't see this every day, but we fully recognize Peter Doocy as — and many reporters, right?" Psaki said.
"They are doing their jobs and working on behalf of the media organizations they represent and asking, sometimes they're questions that are tough."
"Sometimes they have a slant to them," she said.
"But my engagement with him, people don't always see this, but outside the briefing room, it is entirely professional and entirely, hopefully, responsive," Psaki said, saying they treat each other the way professionals treat each other.
"There's a performative component from the TV side of the briefing room," Psaki went on.
Psaki said: "I'm very clear-eyed about the view of Fox News, of me, of the president, of many people who work here. Right. Peter Doocy is a correspondent for Fox News.
"But I have also found my engagements with him to be entirely professional. And he's somebody who engages with our staff, obviously, in the briefing room, but also beyond the briefing room as well."
Psaki said she also sees Doocy one on one, as with other reporters.
Psaki went on to say: "We're not going to allow propaganda to go unnoticed, right? And I'm not going to let misinformation brew and boil in there."
"I can be and will always be, and I am treated the same way in response, respectful of questions that, whether it's Peter Doocy or someone else have in the briefing room — or I try my best to be, I'm not perfect — but I also ... I'm not going to be silent if there is misinformation that is being shared because that briefing room is really for the American people so they can get information and know what's happening," the White House press secretary said.
Newsweek has asked the White House for comment.
