Press Secretary Jen Psaki was once again embroiled in an argument with Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich about whether or not Old Uncle Joe actually has a “red line” in regards to the currently escalating war between Ukraine and Russia.
Heinrich started off by giving the news that Fox News war correspondent Benjamin Hall, her colleague and friend, had been injured while in Ukraine when the transport he was traveling in was attacked by the occupation forces from Russia. It was later announced that another longtime Fox News cameraman, Pierre Zakrzewski, was also a victim and was killed in the same attack.
Highlighting that Biden has stated back in February that the United States would “respond forcefully if Americans were targeted in Ukraine,” Heinrich questioned as to if the White House planned to actually respond to this news that Hall had been injured and that former New York Times contributor Brent Renaud had been killed in a strike over the weekend.
.@JacquiHeinrich to Psaki: Biden "said…in February…the U.S. would respond forcefully if Americans were targeted in Ukraine. Brent Renaud was killed over the weekend. One of my colleagues (@BenjaminHallFNC) was injured today…So, what is that response going to look like?" pic.twitter.com/43ukelKZ3k
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
“Our thoughts, the president’s thoughts, our administration’s thoughts are with him, his family, and all of you at Fox News,” stated Psaki in response, despite the fact that she refused to add anything more about any possible additional steps that the Biden administration could be planning to take as a response to these incidents.
Psaki on @BenjaminHallFNC being hurt in Ukraine: "Our thoughts, the President's thoughts, our administration's thoughts are w/him, his family, & all of you at Fox News[.]"
She adds Biden has led the world in punishing Russia, but nothing "to preview" if more Americans are hurt pic.twitter.com/ZaareyNtsv
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
Heinrich fired back against the persistent claims from Psaki that claimed that Old Uncle Joe had led the world on trying to ensure that Russian President Vladimir Putin was correctly “punished” for the invasion and the continued war he maintains against Ukraine, issuing the argument that Biden had not, in fact, drawn a “red line” and would seek a response from the administration.
.@JacquiHeinrich: "But we've seen the President been so far unwilling to draw a red line on the kinds of atrocities that we're going to watch from the sidelines…Obama drew the redline for Syria at chemical weapons…Any thought process of what we are willing to watch happen[?]" pic.twitter.com/HRxKcVEdq8
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
“But we’ve seen the president been so far unwilling to draw a red line on the kinds of atrocities that we’re going to watch from the sidelines,” Heinrich went on, pointing to the hard “red line” from former President Barack Obama in regards to chemical weapons in Syria. “Any thought process of what we are willing to watch happen?”
Psaki tried to push back, falling back on her previous statement that Biden had led the world in attempting to pressure Putin. “I think it’s important to reiterate as much as we can that what we are seeing is horrific, what we’re seeing is barbaric and the steps that the president has taken and led the world in taking has essentially led the Russian financial system to be on the brink of collapse,” she claimed.
Psaki: "I think it's important to reiterate as much as we can that what we are seeing is horrific, what we're seeing is barbaric and the steps that the President has taken and led the world taken has essentially led the Russian financial system to be on the brink of collapse." pic.twitter.com/mxGZX5sQKG
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
“Is there a concern that if we don’t draw the line at something like chemical weapons, it’ll make it easier for malign actors to use them in the future because they’ll just go unpunished?” Heinrich pressed, but Psaki once again argued that the world would leap in response if came to that.
“Well, Jacqui, I think that you heard the president say on Friday that there would be severe consequences and the world would respond if they were to use chemical weapons,” claimed Psaki. “And what we have been doing over the course of the last several weeks, if not months, is providing as much information to the global community, to the media, and to others about what to expect.”
“And when you have President Putin suggesting — and Russian — Russian officials suggesting that the United States and Ukrainians are the ones who are working on a chemical weapons program, it’s clear that this is a pattern that we’ve seen in the past of them trying to set up a predicate for their own actions,” she tacked on.
“What does that end up looking like if the world responds?” exclaimed Heinrich. “Because we’ve heard the president talk a lot about what the U.S. is not going to do … why wouldn’t we think that he would just create a pretext that is fabricated for something like that?”
“We do,” Psaki responded.
.@JacquiHeinrich: "What does that end up looking like if the world responds? B/c…we've heard the President talk a lot about what the U.S. is not going to do…Why wouldn't we think that he would just create a pretext that is fabricated for something like that."
Psaki: "We do." pic.twitter.com/DmMJtRJeZz
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 14, 2022
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