Jen Psaki just DEFENDED Biden breaking the same mask mandates he himself pushes while parading through a swanky Georgetown restaurant this weekend
Q Thank you, Jen. There is a mask requirement inside D.C. restaurants, yet President Biden and the First Lady were not wearing masks while walking around a D.C. restaurant on Saturday. Why?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I think what you’re referring to is a photo of them walking out of a restaurant after they had eaten, masks in hand, where they had not yet put them back on yet.
So, I would say: Of course, there are moments when we all don’t put masks back on as quickly as we should, but I don’t think we should lose — miss — lose the forest through the trees here in that our objective here is to get more people vaccinated; make sure that schools and companies around the country can put in place requirements to save more lives and keep people safer; and, you know, not overly focus on moments in time that don’t reflect overarching policy.
Q It was not just exiting the restaurant, though. He was walking through the restaurant with no mask on. There is a carveout for people under two or people who are actively eating or drinking. So I’m just curious why the President was doing this.
MS. PSAKI: I think I just addressed it, Peter.
Q Okay. Why did the President break his promise not to enter into any decisions about what cases the Justice Department should bring and not bring?
MS. PSAKI: How did he break his promise?
Q Well, he was asked if the DOJ should prosecute people who defied January 6th committee subpoenas, and he did not say, “I will let the Justice Department decide.” He said, “Yes.”
MS. PSAKI: Well, let me reiterate — and I put out a statement also on Friday night to this — on this, where I conveyed clearly that, one, the President continues to believe that January 6th was one of the darkest days in our democracy. He also continues to believe that the Department of Justice has the purview and the independence to make decisions about prosecutions. And that is — continues to be his view, and that it continues to be how he is — he will govern.
Q You say that that is his view, but that is not what he said.
MS. PSAKI: I just conveyed what his view is, and that is also how he has operated, how he has governed, and how he will continue to govern. And I think that’s what’s important for people to watch.
Q So then what’s changed since last year when he said, “I will not do what this President” — former President Trump — “does and use the Justice Department as my vehicle to insist that something happened”?
MS. PSAKI: Well, since you give me the opportunity here, President — former President Trump used his office to incite an insurrection. He put political pressure on senior DOJ officials to propagate lies about the election to the point where they threatened to resign en masse. I think there’s hardly a comparison there.
Q But the — he said — President Biden said, “The Justice Department in my administration will be totally independent of me.” And he said he would not enter into any decision about what cases the agency would bring and not bring. How is that not exactly —
MS. PSAKI: And he — and he has not —
Q — what he’s doing?
MS. PSAKI: — and he will not. And criminal prosecutions —
Q Somebody asked him about prosecutions and he said —
MS. PSAKI: — are their sole purview.
Q — he wants it to happen.
MS. PSAKI: Criminal prosecutions are the sole purview of the Department of Justice. That is the President’s position. That is what he’ll — he nominated the Attorney General to operate under. That is exactly what the Attorney General is doing. And those are the actions that people can watch from this administration.
Q As the public reflects on the life of Colin Powell and his public service, people are also now aware that he had a breakthrough case of COVID in addition to cancer and had some vulnerabilities. Because he was fully vaccinated and got COVID that took his life, any concerns about how that will be interpreted publicly? Or how does that affect the message from the White House about the importance of vaccinations?
MS. PSAKI: Well, as people saw in the statement issued by the President — a very personal statement about his personal relationship — this is obviously a heartbreaking tragedy for the country and one the President is feeling personally.
There are extremely rare cases of deaths or hospitalizations among fully vaccinated individuals. That has been the case even before the death of Colin Powell, especially among people — older people over a certain age and people who have underlying health issues or people who are battling other diseases. That has been the case.
It is also the case — and this is important for people to know and understand — that there — who are concerned — that an unvaccinated person has a more than 10 times greater risk of dying from COVID-19 compared to a fully vaccinated person. So there’s no question that vaccination, that taking precautions can save lives. It is — and it is still true. And this raised that — certainly the death of Colin Powell — that underlying health issues, fighting other diseases is something that can lead to greater risk.
Q And the administration, on issue of the Texas abortion law, is seeking a redress from the U.S. Supreme Court. Can you speak to that?
MS. PSAKI: Well, as we’ve spoken to a few times, including in statements from the President, he continues to believe that Roe v. Wade is — should be — is the law of the land. He supports efforts to codify Roe v. Wade, and he is going to fight efforts — obviously, the Department of Justice will be in the lead on that — against efforts to prevent women from having access to fundamental rights that they should have to protect their own health and make decisions about their own health.
Tags: Jen Psaki
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