Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy appeared to hit a nerve with press secretary Jen Psaki when he began asking about the President’s public support of Texas lawmakers hiding out in Washington.
Doocy dove right into a hypothetical question during a press briefing which compared what the Texas Democrats are doing now, fleeing the state to avoid passing a voter integrity measure, with Biden’s action as a U.S. Senator.
Peter Doocy to Psaki on Texas Dems 🔥🔥: "Do you know any examples from his 36 years in the Senate that Joe Biden just hopped on a train and left town to avoid a vote that he knew he was going to lose?" pic.twitter.com/v6Ml15wCbX
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 14, 2021
Doocy cut right to the chase, “Do you know any examples from his 36 years in the Senate that Joe Biden just hopped on a train and left town to avoid a vote that he knew he was going to lose?”
Psaki forced a laugh then said, “Welcome back.”
“Look,” she continued on a more serious note, “I think the president’s view is that these Texas legislators were making a statement through action in opposition to efforts in their state to oppose restrictions on people’s fundamental rights.”
But Doocy wasn’t laughing, “Maybe it is funny to think about it that way but the president is talking about this as the most serious assault on democracy since the Civil War.”
“I don’t think anything about this is funny,” Psaki interrupted adding that 28 states are in favor of passing laws making it harder for people to vote. Then she reminded reporters that Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with the Texas Democrats and that President Joe Biden defended their decision to flee the state and avoid the Texas legislation.
Doocy pushed harder, stating that Biden had run his campaign on promises to work across the aisle with Republicans and asking whether the Texas Democrats would be better able to effect change if they went back to Texas and sat down at the negotiating table.
“Does [Biden] think that the best way to keep something bad from happening — that he thinks is bad — from happening in Texas is for these lawmakers to be hiding out in a different state or for them to go back and sit down at the table?” Doocy asked.
Psaki would only say that Biden would not pick sides and hopes everyone can come to an agreement.
