Former executive Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany offered her reaction to comments made by her successor, current White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, about discouraging joe-biden”>President Biden<
“That is not something we recommend,” Psaki said in the podcast published Thursday. “In fact, a lot of times, we say, ‘Don’t take questions,’ you know? But he’s going to do what he’s going to do.”
“Yeah,” Axelrod responded.
McEnany, who is now co-host of “Outnumbered” after previously serving as press secretary for donald-trump”>President Trump<
McEnany acknowledged that she herself “at times” advised President Trump that “you may not want to take questions on your way to the plane” based on a “rough” news cycle, but stressed that her former boss was “always in charge.”
“He would take questions whether you wanted him to or not,” McEnany explained. “I think he enjoyed the banter and back-and-forth with the press.” So, of course, there were times where I said, ‘You know, maybe don’t take questions today’ but I almost think on those days he enjoyed taking questions the most.”
“It’s not that she advises him not to take questions because I certainly did with President Trump, but it’s more that she broadcast her strategy, that her private conversations with the president,” McEnany said.
FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2020 file photo, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany speaks during a briefing at the White House in Washington. McEnany has signed on as a Fox News contributor. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
McEnany insisted if she made such comments during her tenure as White House press secretary, “that would have created a news cycle on CNN and on MSNBC.”
She also observed that it appears Biden “relishes” in taking questions from reporters, which she suggested means Psaki is “out of sync” with her boss based on her comments.
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“I don’t think it’s President Biden himself backing away from the questions,” McEnany continued. “I really think that- and Jen Psaki said this herself- there’s a mentality of controlling the back-and-forth, making sure he’s not in those freewheeling, jousting dynamics with the press and I think that that’s pretty clear. That’s the strategy of the press’s job but to be honest, I think President Biden- he seems to kind of relish and enjoy the moments.”
