BS BULLETIN:

• Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki says the press must “hold power to account.”
• Psaki became famous behind the White House podium for repeatedly promising reporters she would “circle back” when she didn’t have an answer — a habit she openly acknowledged at the time.
• Now on the other side of the podium, she says journalists should question, test and challenge those in power.

Well, look who’s ready to circle back.

Jen Psaki — yes, that Jen Psaki — has a message for journalists covering the White House: Ask tough questions and demand answers.

“The press is there to question, they’re there to test, they’re there to hold power to account,” Psaki said.

For anyone who slept through the Biden years, Psaki was the White House press secretary whose repeated promise to “circle back” became such a running joke that she eventually joked about it herself.

“I often note I’m going to ‘circle back,’” Psaki told reporters in February 2021. “I hate to disappoint conservative Twitter, but I am going to circle back on a number of things.”

And this wasn’t just an internet invention.

At one of her first Biden White House briefings, Psaki was asked about the president’s position on religious-conscience exemptions.

“I’m happy to circle back with you,” she answered.

Asked whether Biden supported D.C. statehood?

“I hate to disappoint you, but I will have to circle back with you on that as well.”

Asked about implementation of the Defense Production Act?

“I’ll have to just circle back with you.”

“Circle Back Psaki” had been born.

Now Psaki says the Trump White House wants favorable coverage and reporters who behave like “sycophants.”

“They want outlets to write complementary pieces about them,” she said. “That’s not what the media or the press corps does.”

She even invoked her own experience at the podium:

“I know that from doing probably thousands of briefings in front of press who were asking difficult questions.”

Oh, we remember the questions.

It was the answers that sometimes required a return trip.

Circle Back Psaki has finally circled all the way back — and discovered the virtues of a press secretary being relentlessly pressed for answers.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• Twitchy — Jen Psaki lectures media about holding power to account
• White House transcript — Psaki jokes about having to “circle back,” February 1, 2021
• White House transcript — Psaki repeatedly says she’ll “circle back,” January 21, 2021
• Roll Call — Transcript of Psaki’s January 21, 2021 White House briefing