Speaking to reporters at the White House Monday afternoon, Press Secretary Jen Psaki described the Cuban communist government's failure to provide basic goods and services as "economic mismanagement." She avoided using the term communist to describe the regime, which has been oppressing the Cuban people for 60 years.
"There is every indication that yesterday's protests were spontaneous expressions of people who are exhausted with the Cuban government's economic mismanagement," Psaki said.
PSAKI: "There is every indication that yesterday's protests were spontaneous expressions of people who are exhausted with the Cuban government's 'economic mismanagement...'" pic.twitter.com/DmccmklLHG
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 12, 2021
Jen Psaki focuses on "a lack of access to vaccines" as a leading cause of unrest in the streets of Cuba—not mentioning anything about the cries for freedom against a communist state. pic.twitter.com/FHJzQQYcvD
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 12, 2021
Psaki was also asked about Cubans flying the American flag while chanting "libertad" and failed to thoroughly defend it as a symbol of freedom for those oppressed by dictators around the world.
WATCH: @DailyCaller's @ShelbyTalcott asks a stammering Jen Psaki about the fact that the far-left New York Times recently described the American flag as "alienating to some" but we've been seeing Cuba protesters waving the stars and stripes as a symbol of freedom #CubaLibre pic.twitter.com/4kAkHvws81
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) July 12, 2021
Earlier in the day President Joe Biden referred to the regime as authoritarian, still avoiding the term communist.
"We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba's authoritarian regime," Biden released in a statement. "The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights. Those rights, including the right of peaceful protest and the right to freely determine their own future, must be respected. The United States calls on the Cuban regime to hear their people and serve their needs at this vital moment rather than enriching themselves."
The protests in #Cuba began over 24 hours ago
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 12, 2021
And you forgot something ?? pic.twitter.com/5oeLVPtUGY