On 4/29/2022, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended Nina Jankowicz chosen to lead the Department of Homeland Security’s “Disinformation Governance Board.” Nina Jankowicz chosen to oversee the new board, called Hunter Biden’s laptop ‘Russian disinformation. Psaki defended Nina Jankowicz and said she’s a person with “extensive qualifications.” She said that she’s an expert on online disinformation, she was formerly a disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, she’s testified before Congress…this is a person with extensive qualifications,” Psaki said.
Reporter: there’s been some TikToks that she has put out, and it seems like rather than, you know, calling balls and strikes on “this, you know, story is false and this story — and here’s the truth on it,” one line stood out to me: “They’re laundering disinfo and we should really take note, and not support their lives with our wallet, voice, or vote.”
Reporter: You just outlined a lot of, you know, efforts that sound very worthy, but you’ve got some from the Home- — the Department of Homeland Security telling people how they should vote. How do you explain that to critics who say “That doesn’t sound right to me”?
MS. PSAKI: This is an individual who will be overseeing the work of that board. Personnel decisions are up to the Department of Homeland Security. I just outlined the extensive history and background this individual has. But I think what’s important to note here is what the board is doing, which is continuing what is important disinformation-related work that began under the former administration.
Reporter: The mayor of Eagle Pass told my colleague down at the border today — and the mayor is a Democrat, by the way — that the border is not being effectively managed and asked the President to come and see it. Does the President have any plans to go to the border?
MS. PSAKI: I don’t have any plans to preview at this point in time. Certainly, we’re open to it, but no plans to preview.
Reporter: On the economy: Austan Goolsbee, the former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under the Obama administration, said that he felt that the President yesterday in his comments about the GDP report was potentially underplaying the risks of a recession. And he pointed to geopolitical conditions with Ukraine, with Russia cutting off gas to Europe, and also the GDP shrinking, saying that people should be nervous. How do you respond to that?
Psaki: … the data that was in there show very encouraging signs that economists look at — independent — many independent economists monitor closely. American consumer spending, business investment, residential investment — all up. The decrease, as it relates to exports, is largely because our economy is stronger than many economies around the world. And the inventory numbers, which is kind of the number that went down — that brought it down — is in large — a large — in large part because the fourth quarter inventory numbers were the highest in history, and these numbers are drawn — are done as a comparison from quarter to quarter.
Some important components of it are: We created more jobs last year than any job [year] in American history. We’re at a low — a very low unemployment rate. And while costs are high and inflation is not where we want it to be, the Federal Reserve continues to project that will come down by the end of the year. So our economists and our economic team continues to feel confident in the strength of the economy even as we monitor a range of data.
Reporter: Jennifer Granholm said something, though, that was interesting about inflation coming down. She said, “Some economists are suggesting inflation is going to level off a bit, but it’s just so hard to know because we don’t know what’s going to happen on the war on this.” So, she’s seeming to also allude to geopolitical conditions that might not result in these projections coming to fruition.
Psaki: Well, the Federal Reserve makes the official projections — right? — for the government. What I will note, and I think maybe she was referring to, is: Even the new economic data we saw today — energy accounted for 61 percent of the reasoning for the increase in the inflation numbers. And we know that because of Putin’s unprovoked invasion in Ukraine, that it’s driving food costs but also energy costs, and that is a huge driver. So that’s why the President is taking a range of steps: the historic release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; even the steps, certainly smaller, as it relates to E15 today to work to really target and focus on energy prices and costs.
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Psaki defends expert on disinformation, dismisses recession, claims economy encouraging, no plan to visit border.