Jen Psaki slams the media for underestimating Joe Biden
Jen Psaki pointed out that the media constantly underestimates Joe Biden, and so far they have been consistently wrong.
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PSAKI said in part:
Here are some headlines on the negotiations that led to the infrastructure agreement. Remember those headlines? When will Biden step into the game. Does Biden need top gear? Some Democrats think so. These are not the last few months. It’s weeks before Joe Biden wins the presidency by defeating Donald Trump.
Or how about those in the weeks leading up to the midterm elections? Why Biden’s closing argument is worrisome to Democrats and couldn’t miss the mark with midterm voters. Help or hindrance? Biden takes a back seat as Trump goes all-in mid-term. We all remember how it turned out, the Democrats kept the Senate and almost kept the House. Call me crazy, but maybe he’s onto something here. Maybe people don’t want frantic presidencies on Twitter. Maybe they don’t want a circus. Maybe getting things done isn’t boring, it’s not as simple as some recent analysts have suggested. Maybe governing is about making people’s lives better, or trying to.
From my experience working for him for almost two years, it’s not really a problem for Joe Biden that he’s underestimated. It’s a kind of motivation for him. But this week’s big lesson is not about the future of bipartisan bargaining. Don’t hold your breath on that. It’s that people should underestimate Joe Biden at their peril.
The media’s underestimation of Joe Biden has been as constant as their obsession with a carnival barker who keeps blowing in town to sell them snake oil even though he’s not wearing pants.
The media told the country that Biden was not going to win the Democratic nomination. He did. Then they decided he couldn’t beat Donald Trump. Biden did too. As president, the media and the pundit class all said Biden couldn’t get big bipartisan deals, but that’s exactly what the president did. Now, as we head into the 2024 election, the media is saying that at 80, Biden cannot win a second term.
At some point, the “experts” are going to realize that every time they bet against Joe Biden, they lose.
It hasn’t happened yet. Maybe they will spread after November 2024.
Jason is the editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason holds a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate studies focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association
