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Jen Psaki confronted by NBC reporter about what Biden makes of ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ chants

November 13, 2021 | | Print Article
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki’s post-COVID return to the briefing room Friday came with a flurry of predictably dubious claims, as usual.

She first claimed that President Joe Biden, who’s repeatedly demonstrated a Trump-like hypersensitivity to criticism, isn’t remotely bothered by Americans chanting “Let’s Go Brandon” as an insult directed at him.

She issued the claim after being pressed about it by NBC’s Peter Alexander.

“Across this country, we’ve seen this new phenomenon lately chanted at sporting events and on signs. The phrase is ‘Let’s Go Brandon,’ a sort of code for a profane slogan attacking President Biden. What does the president make of that?” he asked.

“I don’t think he spends much time focused on it or thinking about it,” the press secretary promptly replied.

Some found that hard to believe, especially given Biden’s habit of erupting in fury whenever criticized about virtually anything.

Most recently, he was so unnerved by criticism over his botched withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that he delivered what the Washington Monthly described as a “screw you” speech.

An unnamed Republican insider who spoke with PJ Media at the time wasn’t surprised.

“Some people forget this is who Joe Biden is and has always been. He’s never been able to admit fault, and he cantankerously lashes out when faced with tough questions or legitimate criticism,” the insider said.

Former Trump 2020 campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh echoed this same point way back in August of 2020, noting that it wasn’t “a great sign” that the then-candidate “lashes out” and “fights back” whenever he “is under any criticism at all.”

Listen:

Continuing the back-and-forth exchange Friday, Alexander then asked Psaki what the president feels he can do to calm tensions in the country.

“The president said when he came into office on Inauguration Day — he said he was going to help get rid of the ‘uncivil war’ in this country. So I guess, through that lens right now, does the president think there are things that he can do differently? Or how does he react to the stuff he sees out there when it is one of his primary promises or desires to help bring Americans together?” he said.

The White House press secretary replied with another dubious argument.

“Well, it takes two to move towards a more civil engagement and discourse in this country. And the president is going to continue to operate, as you said, from the promise he made early on, which is that he wants to govern for all Americans,” she said.

But the president has not governed “for all Americans.” He’s tried to discriminate against white farmers, lashed out against the unvaccinated, smeared Republican governors, and most recently, was accused of defaming Kyle Rittenhouse:

But apparently, Psaki felt it wasn’t necessary to factor in these clear-cut examples of the president being anything but civil and unifying.

Similarly, when pressed about ongoing inflation, she didn’t appear to feel it necessary to factor in all the experts who’ve warned that it won’t subside anytime soon. To hear her tell it, the real problem isn’t inflation — it’s Republicans drawing attention to it.

“A lot of talk about inflation … it’s become a political cudgel, and it shouldn’t be. It’s impacting, as you said, millions of Americans no matter their political party. And that’s certainly of concern to the president,” she complained.

“I would note that everyone from the Federal Reserve to Wall Street agree with our assessment that inflation is already expected to substantially decelerate next year. I know you’re not talking about that, but that’s an important component here,” she added.

She also claimed that “economists also agree” that the president’s exorbitant spending proposals “will ease inflationary pressure over the long term.”

Listen:

Speaking on CNN later that same evening, Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke predicted that inflation will last at least three years and referred to the notion that more spending will somehow ease it faster as “rubbish.”

“This is utter rubbish. … Inflation is always a monetary phenomenon. It’s how much money the Federal Reserve and the commercial banking system is creating. And they have got so much money excess in the monetary bathtub right now that no matter what they do, if they completely cut the spigot off and didn’t put anything in, we’d still have a big inflation problem that will last through 2024,” he said.

He added that his predictions tend to pan out: “I predicted a year ago we’d be at six percent by the end of this year. Well, it looks like we’re going to be pretty close to that.”

Indeed, the consumer price index rose an astonishing 6.2 percent year over year in October, according to the latest Labor Department data.

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Vivek Saxena
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