Today, for what seems like the eleven-millionth time since Jen Psaki began holding the daily White House press briefing, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy tried to tell a blatant lie and immediately got swatted down by the press secretary.
Referencing the Disinformation Governance Board at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Doocy suggested that President Joe Biden had created something that would censor things online.
Of course, the facts suggest otherwise:
- The Disinformation Governance Board’s mission is to counter foreign disinformation, not domestic.
- The board isn’t something that was created by the Biden White House. It started in the Trump administration and is being continued now that Biden is president, which makes it bipartisan, at least in spirit.
Despite that, Doocy waded in with both feet, asking Psaki:
“Does the President know that DHS is putting together this Disinformation Governance Board?”
As she so often does, Psaki countered Doocy with facts:
“Well, Peter, I think I would note – and I’m not sure if this has been in your reporting yet – but this is a continuation of work that was done under the prior administration, under the Trump administration, to take steps to address disinformation, address the use of disinformation and helping smugglers prompt the movement of more migrants across to the border.”
She then added:
“I would note that the first example given in the announcement about this was DHS has worked to understand how ‘misinformation’ spread by human smugglers that prey on vulnerable populations attempting to migrate to the United States. So for anyone who’s out there who may be concerned about the increase in migrants to the border, this is the kind of apparatus that’s working to address disinformation. And again, continuing the work of the Department of Homeland Security and 2020. Something we’re currently applauding.”
However, Doocy seemed to have missed every word Psaki had just said, which led him to ask an absurd follow-up question:
“Just in terms of what the President wants out of this, does he want the people on this board to start censoring information that is not helpful to him?”
Psaki:
“Well, let me be clear on exactly what this board does, or what the work they’re doing does and in their announcement, which is publicly available in the Department of Homeland Security website for anyone to read, it says, ‘the primary mission is to establish best practices to ensure that efforts to understand and respond to disinformation are done in ways that protect privacy, civil rights and civil liberties and the right to free speech.’”
Rather than accept, Doocy then tried to reframe his query to include Hunter Biden:
“Okay, there’s this woman Nina Jankowicz, who is going to be in charge of the board. She has said that she thinks the Hunter Biden laptop is Russian disinformation. So should we look forward in the future to her censoring internet traffic about the Hunter Biden laptop?”
Though no one would have blamed her if she had laughed at Doocy and never called on him again, Psaki tried once more to explain in terms the Fox reporter could understand:
“I think I noted exactly what the objective of the board is, including continuing the work of the prior administration. And the woman you noted has extensive experience and has done extensive work addressing disinformation, she has testified before Congress testified in Europe. She has done worked closely with Ukrainians and has unique expertise, especially at this moment we’re facing.”
We’re going to miss the hell out of Jen Psaki when she leaves to join MSNBC.
