Peter Doocy must have really been in the mood to be throttled, because he teed himself for a beating from Jen Psaki with the lamest attempt at a "gotchya" question ever.
"President Biden promised to bring decades of D.C. experience to the Oval Office, but Build Back Better has not passed, voting rights apparently not going to pass, and vaccine requirements that he likes are apparently illegal. What happened?" asked Doocy the Younger.
Oh, Peter. I'm starting to think he's really being paid by the Biden administration, because that open-ended general question just invites Psaki to rattle off all the great things that have happened under Pres. Joe Biden in the last year. (Not that she needs an invitation...she's masterful in her job.)
What did she do? She rattled off all of Biden's huge accomplishments from the last year.
"Well, first, Peter, I would say if you look back at last year and what we were able to accomplish -- that includes getting the American Rescue Plan passed -- a package that has contributed to cutting childhood poverty by 40 percent; has helped ensure we are moving at a faster pace toward economic growth, toward a record-low unemployment rate; helped ensure schools -- more than 95 percent -- are open across the country," Psaki began.
Oops.
Not done yet, she said, "He also pressed, despite skeptics, to get a Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill passed -- one that we have just -- we’re just announcing today. The fact that 15,000 bridges are going to be repaired -- that was despite many skeptics. And because of his efforts, 200 million Americans are now vaccinated."
Then she reminded him how long a presidential term lasts in this country. Or rather, how short it is not.
"The work of an administration continues after one year, and it will -- he will continue to press forward on all of those priorities."
Undeterred as always, Doocy whined, "But as he talked about a year ago and working with Republicans, now he is talking about Republicans that don't agree with voting rights. He's describing them as George Wallace, Bull Connor, and Jefferson Davis. What happened to the guy who -- when he was elected said, 'To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy?'"
Psaki's answer was filled with finesse that I'm sure went over Doocy's head, but it was superb nonetheless.
"I think everybody listening to that speech who is 'speaking on the level,' as my mother would say, would note that he was not comparing them as humans, he was comparing the choice to those figures in history and where they're going to position themselves if they -- as they determine whether they're going to support the fundamental right to vote or not," she told him.
Pffft. As if Doocy is capable of drawing the distinction between comparing today's Republicans to the horrible racists of the past as humans and simply asking today's GOP Senators if they'd like to be remembered as having voted like the horrible racists of the past.
What Psaki didn't say was that Biden was speaking to everyone, including Republicans when he made that speech a year ago. When he cautioned against treating one's opponents as the enemy, he was cautioning Republicans, too. God knows the GOP has not taken that advice, though — au contraire.
Doocy and Fox should consider that if the GOP would stop behaving and legislating as if Democrats — the people trying to give people healthcare, jobs, voting, bridges, and vaccines — were their enemies, Biden wouldn't be hurting their feelings with all these very apt historical comparisons.
