There is no conceivable way that the MAGA right, those folks that don’t approve of being gay, never mind gay marriage, are going to let Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg get away with being all gay married and a dad (or – they wonder, is it “mom”), and so this is a huge point of contention to the MAGiest of the MAGA reporters, Emerald Robinson, whom Jen Psaki often simply ignores.
Not today, Jen must have been in a generous mood and allowed Emerald to “ask” her question. We put the quotation marks around “ask,” simply because Emerald wasn’t really asking a question. She was making a statement, one she knew would get her lots of press and thumb-ups from the right.
Emerald asked:
“Given the seriousness of the supply chain crisis and the multiple issues that you outlined, wouldn’t it be wise for the Secretary to get back on the bicycle, so to speak, and come back to work?”
“He’s at work,” Psaki responded.
“He’s on paternity leave,” Robinson said.
“I was on a conference call with him this morning,” Psaki remarked.
“He’s in the department now every day?” Robinson asked.
Psaki proceeded to defend paternity and maternity leave and said, “We’re not going to back away from that.”
“We are quite confident in the capabilities of the civil servants, the leadership at the Department of Transportation, just as we are at companies across the country, where women, men take maternity and paternity leave.”
She mentioned how she took maternity leave while in the Obama administration.
As Psaki tried to call on another reporter, Robinson continued to call out questions.
“Emerald, I think we’ve spent plenty of time with you today,” Psaki said. “Let’s give some other people more time here.”
Jen Psaki has to treat Emerald Robinson like a child because she won't stop talking when Psaki tries to call on other reporters pic.twitter.com/yUYrZVEd2M [1]
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 19, 2021 [2]
And let’s just say, Twitter was loving it:
“Listen Emerald…”
That would be Emerald Robinson of NewsMax, who formerly worked for OANN.
Jenn Psaki is masterful. https://t.co/mRaZ0LJSx6 [3]— Lyn Harris (@lyn_va) October 19, 2021 [4]
"Emerald, I think we've spent plenty of time with you today," @Psaki [5], speaking for all of us. I'm impressed by how Jen Psaki keeps her calm even when Emerald idiotically suggests @SecretaryPete [6] shouldn't have been allowed to take paternity leave to care for his newborn twins.
— (((anti-antisemite))) (@Tristanshouts) October 19, 2021 [7]
Impossible to parody. Putting SNL out of business. https://t.co/qJa65IRmHf [8]
— David Pakman (@dpakman) October 19, 2021 [9]
For all you working Dads and Moms out there today, shout out if you've ever juggled a conference call with naps, snacks, Power Point deck construction, diaper changes, and playtime. 💪
Tell me that ain't bein' at work twice over! https://t.co/9SkSXaAKMT [10]
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) October 19, 2021 [11]
Why did nobody notice that Buttigieg was on leave until he came back? I guess there aren't many Transportation beat reporters but the result is stuff like this, being angry that the thing that's over happened when you were ignoring it. https://t.co/VEd3diEd6j [12]
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) October 19, 2021 [13]
Can we get @PressSec [14] like an Emmy or something? She'd be a slam dunk for 'Outstanding lead actress in an structured reality program.' https://t.co/QJv09tOjHI [15]
— Luke Martin (@Luke_W_Martin) October 19, 2021 [16]
What poll is this? Talk to any woman who's juggled a baby and work. Implying that he is not doing work is offensive. Parenting IS work, and this is a slap in the face of women everywhere; but it also implies if you are a mother or parent you cannot work. #misogyny [17] #PsakiBomb [18] https://t.co/nXI3ifNa3R [19]
— Blue Midwest 👀🚨🎙💙💯 (@BlueMidwest1) October 19, 2021 [20]