President Biden appointed Jen Psaki as the White House Press Secretary on January 20th, 2021. Her job is to keep the press informed on the happenings in the White House, this can vary from new policies to the progression of foreign alliances. President Trump largely abandoned the traditional White House daily briefings in which members of the White House press corps ask questions to the press secretary with the intention of keeping the American people informed. Oliver Knox, president of the White House Correspondents’ Association commented that “this retreat from transparency and accountability sets a terrible precedent.”
Shortly after his election, President Biden appointed Ms. Psaki as his Press Secretary. Now a 42-year old mother of two, Ms. Psaki is a former competitive swimmer and grew up in Greenwich, CT, with a Republican father, according to The New York Times. She is also a political veteran, serving as the press secretary for President Obama’s 2021 successful reelection campaign, and as the chief spokeswoman for the State Department under Secretary of State, John Kerry.
Ms. Psaki has earned a reputation for vigorously supporting President Biden and also speaking out for women’s rights. For example, after Texas passed a law severely limiting a woman’s right to get an abortion, Ms. Psaki was asked by a male reporter from a Catholic news service why the President, a Catholic, supported a woman’s right to choose. She snapped right back, saying, “He believes that it’s up to a woman to make those decisions with her doctor . . . I know you’ve never faced those choices. Not have you ever been pregnant, but for women out there who have faced those choices, this is an incredibly difficult thing.” Despite her willingness and ability to have sharp exchanges with members of the press, she is well-liked by politicians across the spectrum. She congratulated a Fox New journalist on his marriage and gave the press cookies her mother-in-law had baked.
But most importantly, she is respected for being honest. At her very first briefing as the White House press secretary, she took the podium and promised to tell the truth, “even when it’s hard to hear.”
