White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says she aims to bring “truth and transparency” back to the briefing room.
In her first briefing since President Joe Biden was sworn in on Wednesday, Psaki said she spoke to the new president about the importance of “bringing truth and transparency back to the briefing room.”
Psaki also said Biden wants her to “ensure we are communicating the policies across the Biden-Harris administration.”
“There will be times when we see things differently in this room, I mean among all of us,” she continued. “That’s okay, that’s part of democracy.”
She added, “Rebuilding trust with the American people will be central to our focus in the press office and in the White House.”
Watch the video below:
.@PressSec Jen Psaki begins her first briefing on bringing "truth and transparency back to the briefing room" and on 15 Executive Orders signed today by President Biden. pic.twitter.com/WHOhqhAVJH
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 21, 2021
The first question Psaki took came Zeke Miller of The Associated Press, who asked whether she sees the role of her job to promote the interests of the president or to tell the “unvarnished truth.”
“I have deep respect for the role of a free and independent press in our democracy. And for the role, all of you play. As I noted earlier, there will be moments when we disagree, and there will certainly be days where we disagree for extensive parts of the briefing… but we have a common which is sharing accurate information with the American people,” she responded.
.@PressSec Jen Psaki to @ZekeJMiller: "I have deep respect for the role of a free and independent press in our democracy." pic.twitter.com/F0ZrbFC4pd
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 21, 2021
She added that Biden’s “commitment is to bring transparency and truth back to government to share the truth even when it’s hard to hear.”
Former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany kicked off her tenure during former President Donald Trump’s last year in office, vowing, “I will never lie to you. You have my word on that.”
However, she was quickly accused of breaking her promises by reporters who quickly pointed out what they said was misleading information coming from the McEnany.
