White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded to a reporter from conservative media company Newsmax, who asked if President Joe Biden will fire Linda Thomas-Greenfield—a Black woman who is the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
Since joining the U.S. Foreign Service in 1982, Thomas Greenfield's extensive resume includes serving as the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Director General of the United States Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources, United States Ambassador to Liberia and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs.
At Friday's press briefing, Newsmax reporter Emerald Robinson asked about firing the Ambassador for her comment that White supremacy is "woven" into the fabric of America's founding documents.
The UN Ambassador told Al Sharpton's National Action Network conference on Wednesday:
"I've seen for myself how the original sin of slavery weaved White supremacy into our founding documents and principles."
Robinson claimed Thomas-Greenfield's statement was "getting widely criticized as essentially parroting Chinese Communist Party talking points."
The Newsmax reporter then asked:
"So is the President going to remove her from her position as the representative before that body to promote United States values?"
An unflinching Psaki responded first with a question.
"Is the President going to remove an African American woman with decades of experience in the foreign service who is widely respected from her position as ambassador from the UN? He is not."
"He will—he is proud to have her in that position. She is not only qualified. He believes she is exactly the right person in that role at this moment in time."
While Psaki said she has not seen Thomas-Greenfield's comments, she added:
"There's no question that there has been a history of institutional racism in this country. And that doesn't require the UN ambassador to confirm that."
But Robinson argued the Ambassador's statement was "essentially the same lecture though, that the Chinese delegation gave Secretary Blinken in Alaska last month. So does the President think our founding documents are racist?"
To which Psaki calmly replied:
"I would say that I will—I will leave my comments to speak for themselves. And certainly, I think most people recognize the history of systemic racism in our country. And she was speaking to that."
Twitter was quick to point out how the Three-Fifths Compromise of 1787—which counted slaves as three-fifths of a person to determine a state's total population—was one of the numerous examples of inherent racism in America's founding documents which reference enslaved Africans and "merciless Indian savages" in several places.
Others lauded Psaki for her consistently factual briefings and articulate shutdowns of conservative media reporters who think they have a "gotcha" question.
The Psaki Method seems to be a thing.
Thomas-Greenfield spoke about racism during the National Action Network's annual convention and encouraged Americans to "acknowledge that we are an imperfect union and have been since the beginning, and every day we strive to make ourselves more perfect and more just."
In addition to the remarks about White supremacy in the founding documents, she said:
"Racism is not the problem of the person who experiences it. Those of us who experience racism cannot and should not internalize it despite the impact it can have on our everyday lives."
"Racism is the problem of the racist, and it is the problem of the society that produces the racist. And in today's world, that's every society. In America, that takes many forms. It's the White supremacy that led to the senseless killing of George Floyd."
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