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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2021 19:51:23 GMT
Live: White House Holds Press Briefing: January 28 | NBC News White House: 'great concern' over Covid origin 'misinformation' from China Joe Biden’s administration demands ‘robust and clear’ investigation as WHO team visits Wuhan The US wants a “robust and clear” international probe into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in China, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has said. Speaking to reporters, she said it was “imperative we get to the bottom” of how the virus appeared and spread. She highlighted “great concern” over “misinformation” from “some sources in China”. The coronavirus has killed more than two million people and infected at least 100m since first being detected about a year ago in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. This month a team of experts from the World Health Organization arrived in Wuhan after repeated delays to investigate the virus’s origins. Scientists agree that the disease has an animal origin and particular focus is on the Wuhan “wet market”, which sells live animals.
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Post by Admin on Feb 1, 2021 19:45:28 GMT
When newly appointed White House press secretary Jen Psaki stood behind the lectern on January 20 and invited questions from the reporters assembled, it marked a stark departure from her immediate predecessor. The last time that the embattled Kayleigh McEnany had held a press briefing at the White House was on January 7. It lasted all of two minutes, when McEnany read a statement condemning the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying, “The violence we saw yesterday at our nation’s Capitol was appalling, reprehensible, and antithetical to the American way.” She then left the podium without taking any questions. Since then, and up until Donald Trump’s final day as president, the most communication anyone covering the White House got was a brief daily memorandum that stated, in full, “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings.” White House Holds Press Briefing: February 1 | NBC News “I have deep respect for the role of a free and independent press in our democracy and for the role all of you play,” she said during a half-hour briefing on the evening of Biden’s inauguration. She said that she would immediately restore the daily briefings, and that there would also be regular briefings by the White House team supervising the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. (A few days later, she announced another groundbreaking move: An American Sign Language interpreter will attend every daily briefing. The National Association of the Deaf called the decision a “historic win.”) Her debut performance was praised by many commentators, including CNN’s Brian Stelter, who wrote, “Biden’s first day, and Psaki’s first day, sent a message that functional government is back.” His CNN colleague Van Jones concurred: “It’s just mesmerizing to watch a functional government doing functional government-type things. There was a press conference and there was a human, and that person said words, and the words made sense, and somebody asked a question, and that person answered.”
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Post by Admin on Feb 2, 2021 19:29:28 GMT
White House Holds Press Briefing: February 2 | NBC News
Watch as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki holds a briefing.
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Post by Admin on Feb 8, 2021 17:25:55 GMT
WATCH LIVE: White House press secretary Psaki holds news briefing
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Post by Admin on Feb 13, 2021 4:55:14 GMT
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that one of her deputies, TJ Ducklo, had been suspended for one week without pay after a Vanity Fair story revealed Ducklo had threatened a reporter who was working on a story about his romantic relationship with another reporter.
"This in our view was an important step to send the message that we don't find this acceptable," Psaki told reporters at the White House press briefing.
Psaki said her deputy, TJ Ducklo, had apologized to the reporter, Politico's Tara Palmeri, over the incident. She added that when he returns from suspension he will no longer work with any reporters at Politico.
Palmeri reported on Tuesday that Ducklo had been in a romantic relationship with Axios reporter Alexi McCammond. Axios told Politico that McCammond "disclosed her relationship" with Ducklo in November and was "taken off the Biden beat." But Palmeri pointed out that McCammond's beat includes covering Vice President Kamala Harris and that she had commented glowingly on Biden after he was inaugurated.
A Vanity Fair story published Friday said that Ducklo had threatened Palmeri over her piece, vowing he would "destroy her" if she published it. Ducklo, according to the Vanity Fair story, also made misogynistic comments to Palmeri. The magazine reported Ducklo referenced Palmeri's own personal life, accusing her at one point of being "jealous" about his relationship with McCammond.
A person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN the details of the conversation Ducklo had with Palmeri. Ducklo did not respond to a request for comment Friday and Palmeri declined to comment.
Psaki said that in addition to his initial apology, Ducklo had expressed "profound regret" in a note to Palmeri after the incident, which Psaki described only as a "heated conversation about his personal life."
The note from Ducklo, which was obtained by CNN, said, "Last night on the phone with you I lost my temper in a way that was unprofessional, and I apologize for that. I should have done a better job at keeping my emotions in check during our conversation. It won't happen again."
When asked at the press briefing how Ducklo could continue to work with female reporters, given the misogynistic nature of some of his comments, Psaki agreed they were "completely unacceptable" and said that she has had "conversations with him about that."
Psaki said that the White House apologized to Politico and vowed that "this will never happen again."
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