While Monday saw a change in the White House Briefing Room with an increase in capacity from about a dozen reporters to two dozen reporters, other aspects remained the same with Fox News’s Peter Doocy setting the tone in battling Press Secretary Jen Psaki over a bombshell Wall Street Journal story about a possible origin of the coronavirus.
And as we’ve seen on occasion, Doocy’s lines of questioning drew follow-ups from his more-liberal colleagues.
Doocy cut right to the chase, summarizing The Journal’s story and asking Psaki why Biden wasn’t doing more to follow this lead:
On the origins of COVID, there’s a new Wall Street Journal story that three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illness of November 2019. That’s something that is apparently known to U.S. intel officials. So, why isn't President Joe Biden pushing for more access, more information to get to the bottom of exactly what happened?
Psaki insisted that the administration has “repeatedly called for the WHO to — to support an expert-driven evaluation of the pandemic’s origins that is free from interference or politicization,” as they were unsatisfied with the first investigation.
Doocy tried again to get an answer that was something other than passing the buck on account of the fact there were “589,920 dead Americans,” and thus it’s a fair question to wonder when Biden would “say we don't want to wait for the WHO, we don't know what they’re doing” and launch “an American-led effort to get to the bottom of what happened” in Wuhan.
Psaki preached patience because of a need for “access to the underlying data and information” from the Wuhan Institute, but Doocy wasn’t having it and pointed to the fact that Biden has repeatedly talked about his familiarity with Chinese ruler President Xi Jinping (click “expand”):
PSAKI: Well, first of well, we need access to the underlying data and information in order to have that investigation and —
DOOCY: Why not? But — he talks all the time about how he’s known Chinese President Xi for a long time. So, why can’t he just call —
PSAKI: And we — and we —
DOOCY: — him and ask for that information?
PSAKI: I think you’re misunderstanding how this process actually works. An international investigation. led by the world health organization. is something we have been pressing for for several months in coordination with a range of partners around the world, we need that data, we need that information from the Chinese government. What we can't do, and what I would caution anyone doing, is leaping ahead of an actual international process. We don't have enough data and information to jump to a conclusion at this point in time.
Doocy closed by asking Psaki whether the White House would assign “any amount of casualties from COVID in this country” as a red line for when they would decide to go it alone.
Clearly not amused, Psaki lectured Doocy that “the family members of the loved ones whose lives have been lost — and deserve accurate information, data, not the jumping to a conclusion, without having the information necessary to conclude the origins” and the administration shared that belief.
A few reporters later, Reuters’s Jeff Mason gave it a try and, in the process, caught Psaki trying to claim the WSJ story didn’t involve U.S. intelligence and, once he did, she locked down (click “expand”):
MASON: A follow-up on the China Wuhan question. Can you just give us a sense of the White House's view of that report that The Wall Street Journal cited. Is it accurate? And is — are — do you have concerns that it may have been politicized?
PSAKI: I would say, in terms of the report, specifically about individuals being hospitalized, we have no means of confirming that or denying that. I mean, it’s not a report from the United States. What I was conveying in response to Peter’s question is that it doesn't mean we can draw a conclusion. We don't have enough information to draw a conclusion about the origins. There is a need to look into a range of — of options. We need data. We need an independent investigation and that’s exactly what we’ve been calling for.
MASON: I think The Journal cited a U.S. intelligence report, so that would have been a U.S. report.
PSAKI: Well, I don’t have — I don't have anything more on a U.S. intelligence report from here.
Unlike if this were a Trump spokesperson, Mason and the rest of the room refused to speak up and continued on with the show.
CBS’s Weijia Jiang went next and made a final attempt: “So, on the COVID report, are you saying the administration did not learn about these three researchers seeking hospital care until The Wall Street Journal reported it?”
A stern Psaki didn’t budge: “I don't have anything more on that for you.”
To see the relevant briefing transcript (plus ABC’s Cecilia Vega asking about increased violence in major cities), click “expand.”
White House Press Briefing
Mary 24, 2021
12:12 p.m. EasternCECILIA VEGA: A look back over the weekend and over the last year, this past weekend, there were a dozen mass shootings across this country. 4,000 more people shot and killed by guns at 2020 compared to the year before. Is there a crime problem in this country?
JEN PSAKI: Well, I would say certainly there is a guns problem and that’s something the president would say. There are communities were local and community violence is an issue. And that’s one of the reasons that we have proposed and have — now are implementing funding for community violence prevention programs across the country. I will say that we don't often highlight, and you just gave me the opportunity to, the fact that between my shootings, mass shootings that get a lot of attention, that we lower the flags, there are hundreds of thousands of people that lose their lives. And that’s one of the reasons the president will continue to advocate for the Senate the passing universal background checks, but also advocate in states where we have seen the greatest level of activism over the past several years.
VEGA: Does covid have anything to do with the increased numbers that we’ve seen in the last year?
PSAKI: In terms of local community violence? It — it’s interesting. We would have to ask our team to check in on that. I know, as I started off this briefing, giving an update on we have seen statistics on domestic violence. And we obviously know that there are the loss of life at the hands of gun violence is often — too often suicide, can be domestic violence. And we’ve seen statistics as it relates to the impact on mental health, but I’d have to check with experts on the assessment of that.
(....)
12:20 p.m. Eastern
PETER DOOCY: On the origins of COVID, there’s a new Wall Street Journal story that three researchers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology were hospitalized with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19 and common seasonal illness of November 2019. That’s something that is apparently known to U.S. intel officials. So, why isn't president Joe Biden pushing for more access, more information to get to the bottom of exactly what happened?
PSAKI: We are and we have repeatedly called for the WHO to — to support an expert-driven evaluation of the pandemic’s origins that is free from interference or politicization. Now, there were phase I results that came through. We were not — during the first phase of the investigation, there was not access to data, there was not information provided. And now, we’re hopeful that WHO can move into a transparent, independent, phase II investigation.
DOOCY: But with 589,920 dead Americans, at what point does President Joe Biden say we don't want to wait for the WHO, we don't know what they’re doing? This needs to be an American-led effort to get to the bottom of what happened.
PSAKI: Well, first of well, we need access to the underlying data and information in order to have that investigation and —
DOOCY: Why not? But — he talks all the time about how he’s known Chinese President Xi for a long time. So, why can’t he just call —
PSAKI: And we — and we —
DOOCY: — him and ask for that information?
PSAKI: I think you’re misunderstanding how this process actually works. An international investigation. led by the world health organization. is something we have been pressing for for several months in coordination with a range of partners around the world, we need that data, we need that information from the Chinese government. What we can't do, and what I would caution anyone doing, is leaping ahead of an actual international process. We don't have enough data and information to jump to a conclusion at this point in time.
DOOCY: So, is there any amount of casualties from COVID in this country that would make you want to not wait for an international effort and just do it as —
PSAKI: I think the family members of the loved ones whose lives have been lost — and deserve accurate information, data, not the jumping to a conclusion, without having the information necessary to conclude the origins. What we do share — everyone in this country — is a desire to know how this started, where it started and prevent it from ever happening again. That’s something we all share.
(....)
12:26 p.m. Eastern
JEFF MASON: A follow-up on the China Wuhan question. Can you just give us a sense of the White House's view of that report that The Wall Street Journal cited. Is it accurate? And is — are — do you have concerns that it may have been politicized?
PSAKI: I would say, in terms of the report, specifically about individuals being hospitalized, we have no means of confirming that or denying that. I mean, it’s not a report from the United States. What I was conveying in response to Peter’s question is that it doesn't mean we can draw a conclusion. We don't have enough information to draw a conclusion about the origins. There is a need to look into a range of — of options. We need data. We need an independent investigation and that’s exactly what we’ve been calling for.
MASON: I think The Journal cited a U.S. intelligence report, so that would have been a U.S. report.
PSAKI: Well, I don’t have — I don't have anything more on a U.S. intelligence report from here.
MASON: Okay.
(....)
12:28 p.m. Eastern
WEIJIA JIANG: So, on the COVID report —
PSAKI: Yes?
JIANG: — are you saying the administration did not learn about these three researchers seeking hospital care until The Wall Street Journal reported it?
PSAKI: I don't have anything more on that for you.
JIANG: Okay.
