Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy pushed back on White House press secretary Jen Psaki when she laughed at one of his questions.
Doocy asked about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations regarding reopening schools and managing migrant detention facilities during Wednesday’s briefing, noting that while the detention facilities were being opened to full capacity, many schools still were not. (RELATED: Biden Admin Refuses To Give Data On Unaccompanied Children Detained At Border)
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Psaki immediately pushed back on Doocy’s point, asking whether he had a specific school to hold up as an example, noting that to reopen, the CDC had said there were a series of mitigation efforts that needed to be implemented before schools could safely open.
“The CDC is saying, ‘Schools, you can be at — every school can be at full capacity,’ as you know —” Doocy protested.
“The CDC guidelines as to be clear, as I think this is very important to be very clear and specific on. They gave eight mitigation steps that schools can take to safely reopen,” Psaki replied, noting that a number of schools had already taken those steps and reopened. She also said that some schools were waiting for funding, which she said would be on the way after President Joe Biden signed the COVID-19 relief legislation later in the week.
Doocy pressed again, asking whether the cooperation of the border patrol unions had been easier to come by than that of teachers unions.
“I think that’s a little bit of mixing different circumstances,” Psaki replied, prompting Doocy to point out that both involved children in tight quarters during a pandemic.
Psaki appeared to laugh at that, and Doocy replied, “It’s not funny.”
“Not quite, I would say that let — let’s take a responsible approach to the two issues,” Psaki continued, saying that the schools reopening would depend on how prepared individual districts were to implement the CDC’s recommendations.
“That is a different circumstance than what we are seeing at the border,” Psaki concluded, saying the detention facilities were also being evaluated to make sure they could meet the CDC’s guidelines.