Fox News reporter Peter Doocy—son of Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy—again tried and failed to catch White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki off guard during a press briefing.
Doocy is being mocked online—again—for this latest attempt.
Doocy asked if President Joe Biden would be firing Dr. Anthony Fauci based on documents released by The Intercept. Conspiracy theorists claim they prove the US funded the development of a suped up Coronavirus at the Wuhan Institute of Virology through grants awarded to EcoHealth Alliance.
Dr. Fauci has always adamantly insisted, including while testifying before Congress, the US has never funded gain-of-function research—research that improves an existing virus' deadly capabilities.
Doocy asked if President Biden would now consider firing Dr. Fauci from his position as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases.
Psaki responded:
"Well, first I would say that NIH has refuted that reporting, and I would point you to that, but let me give you some highlights of that."
"NIH has never funded research that would make the coronavirus more dangerous to humans. There are previous and different coronaviruses than the existing one we're battling."
"And the body of science produced by this research demonstrates that the bat coronavirus' sequences published from that work NIH supported were not the COVID-2 strain. So what he said was correct."
Peter Doocy asks Jen Psaki if Biden is considering firing Dr Faucipic.twitter.com/Ta4BgnyEky— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1631210471
Twitter users were very amused by Psaki's handling of Doocy once again.
\u201cYes, Peter, what was your question? I\u2019m listening.\u201dpic.twitter.com/B84MIW6uyE— HellOnWheels50 (@HellOnWheels50) 1631211366
I love how Psaki smiles every time she schools Doocy\u2026.— Roberta \ud83c\udf34\ud83c\udfc4\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@Roberta \ud83c\udf34\ud83c\udfc4\ud83c\udffd\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1631210615
It didn't take long for people to start dunking on Doocy too.
She is soooo good, simply the bestpic.twitter.com/P4VbqxV7EC— RocknRoll (@RocknRoll) 1631217961
I commend the fact that she had the restraint not to say "Is Fox considering firing you? I thought they were against socialism but you sure love getting publicly owned in these press conferences everyday"— blu2021 (@blu2021) 1631210682
If Peter Doocy was given a press pass \n\nThen SNL Weekend Update should get a press pass as well— \u2190 \ud835\ude47\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude41\ud835\ude4f \ud835\ude3e\ud835\ude4a\ud835\ude3c\ud835\ude4e\ud835\ude4f \ud835\ude47\ud835\ude44\ud835\ude3d\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude4d\ud835\ude3c\ud835\ude47 \ud83c\udfc4 (@\u2190 \ud835\ude47\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude41\ud835\ude4f \ud835\ude3e\ud835\ude4a\ud835\ude3c\ud835\ude4e\ud835\ude4f \ud835\ude47\ud835\ude44\ud835\ude3d\ud835\ude40\ud835\ude4d\ud835\ude3c\ud835\ude47 \ud83c\udfc4) 1631211106
I really wish she would have asked him, "Peter, can you please explain for viewers and other press here who may not be up to speed on the science, what exactly is "gain of function?"— Frank Wells (@Frank Wells) 1631210731
Why does Doocy do this to himself? Why doesn't HE do a little research to find out if his questions are b.s. or not? (Hint: Doocy's questions are always b.s.)— Roundtown Girl Again (@Roundtown Girl Again) 1631224148
Doocy is the absolute KING of bad-faith questions.— P.D. White (@P.D. White) 1631210998
Still not able to let it go, Doocy asked Psaki:
"So his job is safe?"
Psaki responded simply:
"Correct."