Psaki Gets The Wind Knocked Out Of Her On CBS, Anchor Blasts 'Very Bad Behavior'
Jen Psaki got the wind knocked out of her Tuesday during an interview that she likely felt would go more her way. During an interview on CBS, anchor Gayle King criticized the Biden administration's 'bad behavior'.
"We don't see it that way!" Psaki shot back in the awkwardly strained exchange.
King noted on "CBS Mornings" that "there's a lot of incomings" at the White House these days, given a recent spate of negative headlines at home and abroad for the Biden administration. After Psaki previewed President Joe Biden's Tuesday address before the United Nations General Assembly as forward-looking, King added that Biden couldn't "ignore what has happened before."
"We’re still getting hammered for how the withdrawal from Afghanistan happened," King said. "Everybody knows, many people believe it was time. It’s just the way that it was done … That’s not a good look. You look at what’s happening with immigration. You look at France now saying that they’ve been betrayed by the United States. So I get that we have to look forward. But what are we doing to justify or explain what appears to be very bad behavior on our part?"
"We don't see it that way," Psaki said, before saying the dust-up with France concerned Australia desiring the superior nuclear submarine technology of the United States. "They're displeased about that, but we have a long-abiding friendship with them that's going to endure."
While King noted the overall Afghanistan withdrawal, she didn't specifically mention the recent botched U.S. drone strike that killed 10 civilians and no ISIS-K terrorists. Biden has called for a full investigation into the tragic accident.
Psaki was pressed on the "dysfunctional" U.S. relationship with China, as described by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, a term the spokeswoman also denied.
"We do see the relationship through the prism of competition. China is a competitor, but it's not a country we want to have conflict with," Psaki said.
The French government has immediately recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia for consultation in response to America's recently announced national security partnership with the United Kingdom and Australia.