In an increasingly distinctive style, White House press secretary Jen Psaki deftly cut off a meandering attack question Monday from Newsmax about a mysterious memo concerning President Joe Biden’s infrastructure plan.
John Gizzi, a reporter for the right-wing outlet, queried Psaki about a “private memo” being “circulated in the business community and to some Republican senators” that Biden’s $2 trillion plan actually costs $3 trillion.
“Somebody went through it, or is claiming to have gone through it, and added it up and came up with $1 trillion more than [what] the president listed as the price tag,” Gizzi added in an apparent effort to clarify his question.
A deadpan Psaki responded: “Sounds mysterious — the memo, the secret memo.”
She said the specifics of the plan have been clearly detailed. “So I would encourage y’all to get your calculators out and charge that up and see how it compares to the secret memo,” Psaki added.
Psaki pulled a similar takedown last month of Fox News’ Peter Doocy, who claimed his network had been left off “the list” of news outlets Biden planned to call on at his first press conference. Doocy later admitted that he had no idea if Fox was on or off any such list.
Last week, in response to a question from Fox Business correspondent Edward Lawrence, Psaki said that no, the administration was not going to change its “tone” when criticizing Republican efforts to make it more difficult for Americans to vote.
In the latest takedown, one fan noted on Twitter than Psaki is “really mastering the art of maintaining calm professionalism while skewering the hell out of stupid questions.”