President Biden's White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki will reportedly leave the administration later this spring to join MSNBC, according to an Axios scoop published Friday morning. Sources told Axios Psaki is "in exclusive talks with MSNBC" that are "nearly final" to jump to the network that trails Fox News and CNN in ratings after she leaves the Biden administration ahead of the midterms.
Axios' source reported that Psaki already "told some senior officials at the White House about her departure and her plans to join MSNBC" but, somewhat awkwardly, she had "not yet formally told the White House press team about her departure." Well, they know now.
Apparently, Psaki's talks with MSNBC involve her landing a hosting gig, not on the network, but on its parent company's streaming platform, Peacock. That decision doesn't make much sense given Psaki's access and knowledge of what's going on in the White House right now, compared to say, Nicolle Wallace, whose last stint in the White House ended in 2006. Psaki will, however, be following in the footsteps of ex-Kamala Harris spox Symone Sanders who previously landed a streaming show on Peacock after exiting the Veep's office.
Ironically, Psaki panned cable news in an interview in February:
Jen Psaki, who is signing a contract with MSNBC, mocked cable news in an interview with Rob Lowe just a month ago:
— Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) April 1, 2022
"Cable news is dying. Right? The ratings for it are dwindling. Right?"
And just yesterday, Vespa wrote about Psaki's decision to stick with the Biden administration past the one-year mark she had initially indicated would be her cue to leave — and what will happen when she's gone. The big question now becomes who will take over her post in the briefing room. There's not much talent waiting in the wings. "There’s no depth to this White House," Vespa noted. "You have top-level staffers who have been in Democratic Party politics for eons, but after that, it's rolling C-squad, and it’s painfully obvious."
