Yesterday on The Briefing with Jen Psaki on MS NOW, Psaki mocked Fox News for cutting away from a heated Senate confirmation hearing before viewers could see the full exchange. But almost immediately after making that criticism, she did the same thing herself.
“That Mullin hearing kicked off with an absolutely bonkers exchange between the DHS nominee and the committee’s Republican chairman, Rand Paul — a sort of Republican-on-Republican nerdy but aggressive food fight. And just to give you a sense of what an unmitigated disaster this was, I want you to watch this moment from Fox News, when the conservative network gave a play-by-play. They’re basically giving a play-by-play like it was a boxing match. And then abruptly they cut away as soon as the fighting started. [clip of Fox News segment omitted]
Boy, this looks like it’s getting heated, everyone. Something may be about to happen. Republicans are fighting. Conservatives, cover your eyes. And quick, let’s go to the other hearing, where perhaps, possibly, likely nothing is happening.
Do you ever watch NFL RedZone? It’s like the channel that flips between football games happening at the same time to show you the most exciting parts of each game, to kind of keep you hooked on the action and keep you watching, because they’re going to show you the most important plays and the key parts of the game. Well, Fox News was kind of like the opposite of NFL RedZone today, using the fact that there were two hearings to cut away from the spicier one whenever something interesting actually happened, which was still a tall order for the folks at Fox…”
Next, Psaki played several clips of Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) grilling Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) over Mullin’s past comments about the 2017 assault on Paul by his neighbor, which left Paul with several broken ribs. Viewers heard Paul’s side in detail, including his outrage over reports that Mullin had called him a “freaking snake” and said he “understands completely” why the neighbor attacked him.
What Psaki’s viewers did not hear was Mullin’s response. Mullin said, “I did not say I supported it. I said I understood it. There’s a difference.” He continued, “Sir, as I said, we can — we can have our differences. It’s not going to keep me from doing my job as Secretary of Homeland Security. I’m going to secure Kentucky and take care of Kentucky as… as much as I am Oklahoma.” He also said, “No, I don’t — I don’t always agree with that. I don’t believe in political violence. I’ve made that very clear.”
That is what made Psaki’s criticism so absurd. She accused Fox of hiding the most important part of the exchange, then turned around and did the same thing by showing only one side.
She does this constantly on her show. Psaki rarely presents the other side fully or fairly. She is one of the most partisan and one-sided voices on television, repeatedly bringing on the same Democrats and like-minded commentators to echo and reinforce the same narrative. Given her background as Biden’s White House press secretary and an Obama communications official, that is hardly surprising. She is not a reporter chasing facts wherever they lead. She is a Democratic insider selling a narrative.
Her show is not about balance. It is not about truth. It is about continuing the same work she used to do inside Democratic administrations, only now from a studio desk instead of a White House podium.
Jen Psaki is the last person who should be lecturing anyone else about one-sided news coverage.
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