Psaki attacks outgoing press secretary Karoline Leavitt as a liar, claims she faced hardly any tough questions
Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki scathingly attacked her Trump counterpart Karoline Leavitt on Thursday, claiming she faced hardly any tough questions in the briefing room and had no interest in engaging in good faith discussions.
"The relationship between the press and the White House is supposed to be adversarial by design," Psaki said on MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, where she was hired after her performance on then-President Biden's behalf from 2021 to 2022. "I mean, the press in the room are supposed to push for more access, for more information. And there are times when it's absolutely appropriate for the press secretary to push back. But Karoline Leavitt didn't want to engage in good faith with those reporters and their tough questions.
"And so, instead, she did everything she could to reshape that briefing room into her own personal safe space where she rarely had to answer a tough question, hardly ever. I mean, she only briefed once or twice a week, max."
President Donald Trump announced this week that Leavitt would be exiting her role as press secretary to prioritize her family. The youngest person to hold the role in history, Leavitt has held the role since Trump took office again last year, and her replacement has not been named.
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Psaki took aim at Leavitt's "new media" push and called it a way for Leavitt to pack the room with MAGA sycophants and friendly podcasters. Fox News Digital previously reported the new media seat had received criticism, largely from legacy outlets, and some of the occupants were called out for asking softball questions at briefings or praising Leavitt and the president.
The White House hit back at Psaki, as spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital in a statement, "Jen 'Circle Back' Psaki couldn't hold a candle to Karoline Leavitt."
Psaki said Leavitt's tenure had consequences beyond "just irritating the actual reporters in the room."
"That room is supposed to be where the American people get answers about what their government is doing. And when an administration doesn't take that responsibility seriously, the American people are the ones who pay the price," she said.
Psaki served as Biden's press secretary from his inauguration in 2021 until May 2022. She was succeeded by Karine Jean-Pierre, who served the rest of Biden's term.
Psaki accused Leavitt of lying repeatedly in her role and said she only served one man: Trump.
"It's been about telling the version of the truth according to the serial liar who sits in the Oval Office. Reporters in the room don't matter. The American people who rely on the reporting from the reporters in the room [don't] matter, she's never seen her job as working for the American people as a public servant," Psaki said, adding she had damaged the job.
Tricia McLaughlin, who served as assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Homeland Security, vehemently disagrees with Psaki.
"I've seen coverage from the New York Times to even Newsweek and CNN that was pretty glowing about Karoline's professionalism, how quickly she would get back to reporters, how she was actually in the room and had the information firsthand, which is so important for a press secretary to understand the policies, understand the president, where he is on the issues, and then be able to communicate that back to those reporter," McLaughlin told Fox News Digital.
Several White House correspondents also praised Leavitt upon her exit announcement, Fox News Digital reported this week.
A White House reporter told Fox News Digital Leavitt was easier to work with than her Biden administration predecessors.
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"Karoline was the best press secretary I’ve ever worked with, and there have been many," the veteran reporter said. "I think the reason she’s so effective is because she spent real time with Trump, as well as time understanding his policies and reasoning behind them."
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"[Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre], as a counter example, didn’t do either," the reporter continued. "And while you could say [Jen] Psaki was a policy wonk, her flaw was that she looked at the press with disdain. They were arrogant, whereas Karoline understood how to work with us."
Fox News' Brian Flood and Joseph Wulfsohn contributed to this report.