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.