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White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had yet another encounter with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy's who attempted to use the White House press briefing to spread right-wing rhetoric.
The exchange happened during Tuesday's daily White House press briefing when Doocy asked Psaki about the "tons" of police and military who are quitting their jobs over COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Psaki stumped Doocy by asking follow-up questions he seemed unable to answer.
Peter Doocy is speechless when Jen Psaki asks him what the number one cause of death for police officers was last year (it was Covid!)pic.twitter.com/UtuzN1wTu4— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1634665129
Doocy's question comes on the heels of recent reports of police officers and military service members in several parts of the country threatening to quit their jobs rather than comply with vaccine mandates.
Doocy asked Psaki how vaccine mandates keep people safe if they result in "tons" of police and military walking off the job.
Psaki replied:
"Where are tons of police and military walking off the job?"
Doocy, unable to answer a question about a thing that has not happened—and isn't even possible in the case of the military—then rattled off various media stories about police and military officers' resignation threats.
Psaki countered by referring Doocy to sources of information about vaccination rates among police and military, the latter of which stands at around 90%.
Undeterred, Doocy then said "There are other problems in the world than COVID-19" and began rattling off a laundry list—from terrorism to violent crime—before Psaki cut him off with a question that dismantled his entire narrative.
"What was the number one cause of death among police officers last year? Do you know?"
When Doocy simply stared back in return, Psaki gave him the answer:
"COVID-19."
Psaki then voiced the Biden Administration's support for police departments' and the military's efforts to get the vaccination rates among their forces as high as possible.
On Twitter, people applauded the way Psaki handled Doocy's attempts to twist the narrative.
At some point one has to get tired of being dunked on, @pdoocy , no?https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1450516802925211653\u00a0\u2026— Terry Kinney (@Terry Kinney) 1634666231
HAHAHAH he gulped his adam's apple straight into his shoeshttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1450516802925211653\u00a0\u2026— Michael Dunlap (@Michael Dunlap) 1634665468
I will bet ALL THE MONEY IN MY POCKET that Doocy was thinking "[the n-word]" in response to this question, but chocked it back because he still wanted to a career.https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1450519341888385024\u00a0\u2026— Elie Mystal (@Elie Mystal) 1634673249
Does Doocy just get off on Jen slapping him down, because I'm sorry but Fox couldn't pay me enough to be their official slapping post.— Stan Sullivan (@Stan Sullivan) 1634672234
Watching Jen Psaki embarrass Peter Doocy for trying to push right wing propaganda is the strength I needed to get through the rest of my day.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1450516802925211653\u00a0\u2026— Zack Hunt (@Zack Hunt) 1634665533
Jen Psaki dunking on Peter Doocy is like fine wine\u2014every sip just as satisfying as the last.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1450516802925211653\u00a0\u2026— Rev. Rob Lee (@Rev. Rob Lee) 1634668453
Someone needs to publicly address this nonsense about military "walking off" the job. The fact that this is even a thing people think can happen shows that they know nothing about the military and how it works. You CAN NOT just "walk off the job" if you're in the military.— Erik Carson (@Erik Carson) 1634696216
I'm beginning to think @pdoocy gets off on being put in his place by Jen Psaki.— Quinn K Chase. VACCINE UP! (@Quinn K Chase. VACCINE UP!) 1634666567
Conservatives have seized upon recent stories of police threatening resignations, particularly a viral video that claims to show Seattle first responders turning in their boots in protest against vaccine mandates.
That characterization is inaccurate, and while some large police forces' vaccination rates remain worryingly low, Seattle is not among them.
91% of police officers and 90% of fire fighters in the city are fully vaccinated.