Jen Psaki refused to let a reporter blame Joe Biden for Republicans’ election lies

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was not willing to entertain the idea that President Joe Biden is to blame for the political divisiveness in the wake of the Capitol Insurrection.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the day that supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying votes from the 2020 election. Five people died that day.

Related: Donald Trump begs supporters to “rise up” just before anniversary of Capitol Insurrection

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Several ceremonies were held to remember the violent attempt to overturn the results of the election, and NBC News journalist Kristen Welker remarked at the White House press briefing earlier today that “most of the people who attended these ceremonies today were Democrats,” adding that there were “some Republican lawmakers.”

She also said that polls show “a number of Republicans… believe that the election was stolen from the former president.” She didn’t mention a specific poll, but a recent Axios/Momentive poll found that only 25% of Republicans accept that Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, despite numerous investigations turning up no evidence of massive voter fraud.

But after Welker established that many Republicans aren’t willing to accept the fact that Biden won the election or denounce the violent events of January 6, 2021, she tried to pin the blame on Biden: “Does President Biden feel as though he has done enough to unify the country? And what does he need to do, given the current divides that we still see on display today?”

Psaki started by being gracious to Republicans and noting that Welker’s phrasing isn’t “doing justice to the tens of millions of Republicans and independents and others out there who don’t feel that way.”

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But then she called out “some Republicans in Congress” who are pushing what she called “the big lie”; that is, that the 2020 election was stolen.

Those Republicans “need to take a look at themselves and think about what role they want to play in the history books. When their children and grandchildren look at the history books, do they want to be perpetuating the big lie? Do they want to be walking like silent lemmings behind the former president who fomented an insurrection?”

“Or do they want to be a part of saving democracy?”

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“So the question should really be directed at them,” Psaki concluded.

Kristen Welker poses a question to Jen Psaki suggesting Biden is responsible for not doing more to heal divisions in the country after January 6 pic.twitter.com/ViCulmUlRq

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2022

 

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