Jen Psaki Says Fox News' Questions Might Make Anyone Sound 'Stupid' — Including Peter Doocy
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Jen Psaki isn't holding back when it comes to how she feels about Fox News' views of the news.
At an event last week with Dan Pfieffer of Pod Save America, Pfieffer asked the White House press secretary, 43, about President Joe Biden getting caught in January calling Peter Doocy a "stupid son of a b----" after the Fox News correspondent had asked about inflation.
"Is he a stupid son of a b---- or does he play a stupid son of a b---- on TV?" Pfeiffer, 46, asked Psaki for an episode of Pod Save America.
"He works for a network that provides people with questions that, nothing personal to any individual, including Peter Doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a b----," she said.
Her remark quickly spread around social media and drew a response from Doocy's network.
A spokeswoman for Fox News said in a statement shared with PEOPLE: "In his role as White House correspondent, Peter Doocy's job is to elicit truth from power for the American public. His questions are his own, he is a terrific reporter and we are extremely proud of his work."
Psaki declined to comment to PEOPLE on the record about the exchange.
This is not the first time the Biden White House's relationship with Fox News has made headlines. Both the president and some of his officials have criticized what they call the network's conservative approach to coverage (though Fox News takes pains to try and separate its opinion personalities from its journalists).
Kevin Dietsch/Getty Jen Psaki
In January, Biden found himself in a bit of hot water after his microphone picked up a passing insult directed at Doocy during a White House press event.
As reporters were being escorted from the room in which the event was held, Doocy, 34, yelled out: "Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?" (Biden and Doocy have a history of back-and-forths over the questions he asks.)
Upon hearing Doocy at the event, Biden, who was seemingly unaware that his mic was still on, could be heard saying in a low voice: "That's a great asset — more inflation. What a stupid son of a b----."
Appearing on Sean Hannity's show after the exchange, Doocy said that Biden had subsequently reached out to him on his cell phone "within about an hour" to talk through what happened.
In her interview with Pfieffer last week, Psaki commended Doocy for how he publicly handled the aftermath of Biden's comment in January, saying, "You don't have to like everything Peter Doocy says or does, but that is certainly a moment of grace by Peter Doocy."
Psaki and Doocy themselves have a habit of pointed yet playful banter in the White House Briefing Room and have said before there are no hard feelings between the two of them.
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"People don't see this every day, but we fully recognize Peter Doocy as — and many reporters, right? — they are doing their jobs and working on behalf of the media organizations they represent and asking, sometimes, their questions that are tough," Psaki said in an interview with Mediaite in August.
She continued then: "But my engagement with him, people don't always see this, but outside the briefing room, it is entirely professional and entirely, hopefully, responsive."
Still, Psaki acknowledged that there is a made-for-TV aspect to some of her interactions with reporters when she is behind the podium: "There's a performative component from the TV side of the briefing room."
