Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki dialed into MSNBC earlier today to weigh in on the breaking news of President Biden’s positive Covid-19 test. It was her first appearance since it was announced that she would be joining the network as a host in the fall.
Psaki joined MSNBC Reports anchor Yasmin Vossoughian during the breaking news coverage, saying she was not surprised Pres. Biden had contracted the virus: “They’ve been preparing for this probably for several months now, given the percentage of people in the country who have tested positive.”
She added, “What—they were probably bracing for impact, I bet, before they made the statement this morning because they knew there would be a lot of reactions, obviously from media, but certainly maybe from the markets, from other leaders. What they need to do over the next couple of days is show him working and show him still active and serving as president—and I’m certain they’ll likely do that.”
On the press office’s response to the ordeal: “What they’ve done so far over the last, less than an hour since the news came out is done two smart things. One is they’ve been transparent, they made clear that he was taking Paxlovid, his symptoms have been mild and the second thing they did was to make clear that they would be giving daily updates.”
“I think anyone is preparing for the possibility they may test positive … It can happen, but what is hugely foreign here is the reason he’s having mild symptoms is because he was boosted twice and because he took those precautions but, yes, you’re preparing. He has obviously a doctor who is his personal doctor. Every president has access to the best medical care in the world. And, fortunately, every White House— regardless of whether you’re going through a pandemic or not—is prepared for the President to serve in a variety of places, locations including recovering from Covid in the White House.”