There are damned good reporters out there that are good precisely because they ask the hard questions needed to get real answers, even when the administration prefers to hide the answers. It is the reporter’s job to ask the penetrating question and then report on the answer, or non-answer, as the case may be, to make a record.

Some of the best reporters in history have made their names in the White House press room, Sam Donaldson, Tom Brokaw, Andrea Mitchell, and many others. Peter Doocy is unlikely to ever join those ranks because Doocy doesn’t seem interested in digging out deeply hidden facts. It appears that Doocy wakes up every day with the goal of forcing Jen Psaki to admit that Donald Trump was a far better president than Joe Biden, or some other usable Fox talking point.

Jen won’t play. But things got a bit more complicated today.

Doocy asked a particularly “Doocy” question, one that’s merely “juicy” for the Fox audience: “Is the White House concerned that some vice presidential staffers reportedly feel like they work in an ‘abusive environment’?”

NO one, and we mean no one, knows better than Doocy than not to ask Jen Psaki questions that involve general allegations and no names or sources. Psaki answered easily:

“I try not to speak to or engage on anonymous reports or anonymous sources.”

“The Vice President is an incredibly important partner to the President of the United States. She has a challenging job, a hard job, and she has a great supportive team of people around her,” 

To be fair, Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs raised a valid point in noting that Psaki’s team “regularly organizes anonymous briefings on topics in the news.”

It was a valid enough point that Psaki then showed why she is the White House Press Secretary and we are not. Without insulting either Doocy or Jacobs, and without denying the questions asked or points made, Psaki merely said:

Press Secretary Psaki deflects on question regarding alleged "abusive environment" of Vice Presidential staffers: "I try not to speak to or engage on anonymous reports or anonymous sources." pic.twitter.com/RELZS48D5V

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) July 2, 2021

I think everyone knows the difference between attacking someone as an anonymous source and providing details on a policy announcement to reporters in an effort to provide information and answer media questions

— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) July 2, 2021

Yes, we think everyone does know the difference, we just don’t think many can articulate it quite as clearly and professionally as Psaki.

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