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Biden Spokeswoman Turned MSNBC Host Admits the Jobs Are Basically the Same

April 11, 2023

Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who became an MSNBC host last May, said she considers herself a journalist and that journalism occurs "on a spectrum."

Psaki on Monday said during a media summit hosted by Semafor that she considers herself a journalist, the Hill reported. Psaki caught criticism toward the end of her tenure as press secretary for having employment negotiations with MSNBC while working as a government official for the Biden administration.

"To me, journalism is providing information to the public, helping make things clearer, explaining things," Psaki said. "So I think there is a broad expansion of what that is. ... And even when I was in the White House, working in government, it really was already all on a spectrum."

Karine Jean-Pierre, who replaced Jen Psaki as press secretary in May 2022, made the opposite move, going from MSNBC to the White House.

Jean-Pierre faced backlash during a press briefing Monday after a reporter accused the White House of deflecting questions. The press secretary responded, saying that it is "unprecedented that a president takes as many shouted questions as this president has." Several reporters then voiced their disagreement to Jean-Pierre’s claim.