In light of the collapse of two regional banks over the weekend, MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday ran to the support of President Biden in the lead-up to his address on the crisis which was scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Proving that the only difference between her job at MSNBC and her old job as White House press secretary was her title and parking space, guest and soon-to-be MSNBC Sunday host Jen Psaki sought to explain why Americans should believe this Biden banking crisis was important to him, albeit in a way that made him seem like he’s phoning it in.
Since Psaki had experience working in an administration trying to deal with an economic crisis when she worked for President Obama, on-set co-anchor Jonathan Lemire asked: “what should the President's message be from today? What sort of steady signals should the White House be trying to send?”
Psaki proclaimed that “once the policy decisions have been made, which they were over the weekend, which you and Steve spoke to, the key for the President is calming the public because as Steve said, the banks are opening.”
“The markets will be open. And what he needs to project to the public is, we've got this, we have a plan, we made some decisions. We are addressing this,” Psaki added.
Seeking to illustrate to viewers how important Biden believes this issue was, Psaki admitted that “it’s important to know, President Biden does nothing at 9:00 A.M. He is a night owl.”
“So the fact that he is doing this at 9:00 A.M. anyway speaks to how vital the White House recognizes it is for him to have his voice out there, conveying that to the American public,” she insisted.
Unfortunately for Psaki, there are previous news reports that have stated Biden goes to bed early.
“Biden is more of an early-to-bed type,” CNN.com’s Kevin Liptak reported in February of 2021.
“He has established a regular schedule, including coffee in the mornings with the first lady, meetings and phone calls from the Oval Office starting just after 9 a.m. and a return to his residence by 7 p.m,” Liptak reported.
Unless Biden has radically altered his sleep schedule recently, which seems unlikely given he’s eighty years old, Psaki or Liptak was lying.
This segment was made possible by Sleep Number. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcript click "expand":
MSNBC’s Morning Joe
3/13/2023
6:27:23 a.m. ETJONATHAN LEMIRE: And Jen Psaki, of course, we know we're gonna hear from the President in just a couple hours. He's gonna address the nation this morning before heading to the west coast. I know you played a role in communicating during the Obama White House when they had to deal with the aftermath in the heart of the ‘08/'09 financial collapse. So what should the President's message be from today? What sort of steady signals should the White House be trying to send?
JEN PSAKI: Well, once the policy decisions have been made, which they were over the weekend, which you and Steve spoke to, the key for the President is calming the public because as Steve said, the banks are opening. The markets will be open. And what he needs to project to the public is, "we've got this, we have a plan, we made some decisions. We are addressing this."
And that's what people need to hear from him. Now it’s important to know, President Biden does nothing at 9:00 A.M. He is a night owl. So the fact that he is doing this at 9:00 A.M. anyway speaks to how vital the White House recognizes it is for him to have his voice out there, conveying that to the American public.
