Former White House Press Secretary and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki started her attempted rebuttal to Thursday’s White House briefing segment following White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt's answers to reporters' questions. Psaki began the segment by saying that she’s going to answer the reporters’ questions, “but with the actual truth,” which included allegations that a video of murdered South African farmers are a “White supremacist dog whistle” and falsely claiming that the Make America Healthy Again commission's report was “devoid” of “science and data and facts.”
Psaki then answered this question by reporter Yamiche Alcindor:
ALCINDOR: The President showed a video that he said showed more than 1,000 burial sites of white South Africans and he said were murdered. We know that that was not true and that the video wasn’t true. And that’s why I wonder, why did the President choose to show that –
LEAVITT: What’s not true Yamiche?
ALCINDOR: It’s not true that the video was showing a burial site. It is unsubstantiated that that’s the case.
Psaki responded to the question in her own words:
Well, first of all, Yamiche, you’re right, that was not true. I mean, according to local news reports, the video was a compilation of protests against the violence that all farmers face, regardless of skin color.
But, Trump became, we think, obsessed with this false narrative of white genocide, after seeing a Fox News segment on it back in 2018. And then that obsession only grew once his best buddy and huge donor, Elon Musk, basically moved into the White House.
Musk is also obsessed with this completely disproven and totally offensive claim. So, to go back to your question, I guess–I mean why did Trump show it? Because it’s a white supremacist dog whistle, and because his friend Elon Musk probably asked him to.
Psaki also claimed that a video that President Trump played in the White House showing the call to kill white farmers from an opposition politician and depictions of crosses demonstrating the murder of 1,000 white farmers is a “white supremacist dog whistle.” The Associated Press has confirmed the 2020 demonstration, saying; “Each cross marks a white farmer who has been killed in a farm murder’.”
Psaki’s antics didn’t stop there, however. Next, she took a question about the MAHA commission’s report of children's health:
JILLIAN MICHAELS: As a MAHA mom yourself, how do you interpret the significance of this report in terms of delivering measurable health improvements for Americans and their kids, and what specific actions does the administration plan to take in response to it?
PSAKI: Well, Jillian, that one was definitely made for Karoline and not me, but since you gave me the opportunity, that was a 72-page report put together by the MAGA—MAHA commission. Which includes such “distinguished health experts” as, wait for it, RFK Jr., Linda Mcmahon, and Stephen Miller.
And while they do identify a real problem with children’s health, their proposed solutions are deeply devoid of things that matter like, say, science and data and facts. Meanwhile, they are defending and getting rid of the very programs that would actually help.
She called to attention the credibility of chair members of the MAHA committee like Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, even though there are no reports that she actually wrote anything on the entire 72-page report.
Psaki then goes on to make a comically false claim that the report was devoid of science, data, and facts. In fact, the report features 8 graphs and data sets as well as over 150 facts citing the decrease in children's health across America and what the commission is going to do to stop it.
DISCLOSURE: The Founder and President of the Media Research Center, L. Brent Bozell III was nominated by the Trump administration to be the ambassador to South Africa.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read.
MSNBC’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki
May, 22nd, 2025
9:40:40 PM ESTJEN PSAKI: Well, there was another White House briefing today, so I figured why not? It’s like riding a bike. I’m gonna go try to answer as many of the questions as I can, but with the actual truth.
(...)
9:42:42 PM EST
PSAKI: Ok, next up, Yamiche Alcindor from NBC News.
YAMICHE ALCINDOR: The President showed a video that he said showed more than 1,000 burial sites of white South Africans and he said were murdered. We know that that was not true and that the video wasn’t true. And that’s why I wonder, why did the President choose to show that –
PRESS SECRETARY KAROLINE LEAVITT: What’s not true Yamiche?
ALCINDOR: It’s not true that the video was showing a burial site. It is unsubstantiated that that’s the case.
PSAKI: Well, first of all, Yamiche, you’re right, that was not true. I mean, according to local news reports, the video was a compilation of protests against the violence that all farmers face, regardless of skin color.
But, Trump became, we think, obsessed with this false narrative of white genocide, after seeing a Fox News segment on it back in 2018. And then that obsession only grew once his best buddy and huge donor, Elon Musk, basically moved into the White House.
Musk is also obsessed with this completely disproven and totally offensive claim. So, to go back to your question, I guess–I mean why did Trump show it? Because it’s a white supremacist dog whistle, and because his friend Elon Musk probably asked him to.
(...)
9:44:21 PM EST
PSAKI: Ok, I’m told the next question is from Jillian Michaels, of all people, from The Biggest Loser fame, Jillian.
JILLIAN MICHAELS: As a MAHA mom yourself, how do you interpret the significance of this report in terms of delivering measurable health improvements for Americans and their kids, and what specific actions does the administration plan to take in response to it?
PSAKI: Well, Jillian, that one was definitely made for Karoline and not me, but since you gave me the opportunity, that was a 72 page report put together by the MAGA—MAHA commission. Which includes such “distinguished health experts” as, wait for it, RFK Jr., Linda Mcmahon, and Stephen Miller.
And while they do identify a real problem with children’s health, their proposed solutions are deeply devoid of things that matter like, say, science and data and facts. Meanwhile, they are defending and getting rid of the very programs that would actually help.
(…)
