White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki revealed in an interview with former Obama Chief Campaign Strategist David Axelrod that she plans to leave the White House sometime next year. Both worked together at the White House during the Obama administration.
"When I talked to the inner circle of the Biden orbit about this, we talked about coming in and doing this job for a year and which was quite appealing to me for many reasons," Psaki said. "I think it’s going to be time for somebody else to have this job, in a year from now or about a year from now."
"I was the White House communications director, I've served in lots of different roles," she continued. "It's a great job, it's amazing, yes it will be hard but I also never thought I'd be here and I also love my kids a lot."
Since President Biden took office in January, Psaki has held daily press briefings with reporters that average one hour in length. Previous Press Secretaries Kayleigh McEnany and Sarah Huckabee Sanders held fewer briefings because President Donald Trump spoke directly with reporters nearly every day, sometimes multiple times. Biden has done limited press conferences, interviews and rarely takes questions from reporters.
During the interview, Psaki explained why Biden's interaction with reporters is limited.
"That is not something we recommend. In fact, a lot of times we say ‘don’t take questions,'" Psaki said. "But he's going to do what he wants to do because he's the president of the United States."
On a new #AxeFiles, WH @PressSec Jen Psaki speaks candidly about the daily tug-and-pull with the media and the administration’s determination to avoid getting knocked off message. “We’re never going to satisfy the White House press corps.” pic.twitter.com/v6sFyiD5sw
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) May 6, 2021