Media Rushes to Defend Biden Press Sec. Jen Psaki Over Hammer and Sickle Hat
“The image is real, but claims that the hat was anything more a gift or that Psaki was with Russian officials in any capacity beyond her official role are MISSING CONTEXT,” the USA Today claimed in a fact check.
Over the weekend, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his vice presidential running mate Kamala Harris announced an all-female senior White House comms team, which predictably lead to much swooning and swaying from the usual suspects in the mainstream media.
In their announcement, Biden and Harris claimed that it was the first time in history that “these communications roles will be filled entirely by women.” As White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany pointed out, it wasn’t true, but the media ran with it anyway because, of course, they did.
In any event, among those named to the senior White House comms team was Jen Psaki, who will fill the press secretary role (assuming Biden and Harris are certified as the winners next month). Ms. Psaki is an alum of the Obama-Biden administration, where she was the comms director for the last two years of Obama’s presidency. Before that, Psaki served in various press secretary roles under President Obama, including a spokesperson for the State Dept.
Psaki’s time as a State Dept. spokesperson has come under scrutiny from Republicans, particularly related to a 2014 photo of Psaki wearing a hammer and sickle fur hat.
Trump campaign deputy comms director Matt Wolking tweeted out the photo on Sunday:
Here’s Jen Psaki hugging Russia's Foreign Minister and Russia’s chief foreign affairs propagandist while wearing a pink hammer and sickle hat pic.twitter.com/WMJytaxd7J
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) November 30, 2020
Yes, it’s the hammer and sickle pic.twitter.com/sniIGMNX61
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) December 1, 2020
Psaki originally posted the photo to the official State Dept. spokesperson Twitter account on Jan. 13, 2014:
I mean, she thanked them pic.twitter.com/wX4v7CUrrE
— Billionaire Chimp (@ChimpWithMoney) December 2, 2020
Just to confirm it was a real tweet, here’s an old-style retweet of it from the official archived account of Obama’s then-deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes:
#shapkadiplomacy MT @statedeptspox Thanks to Maria, my Russian counterpart, for preparing me for upcoming #Olympics pic.twitter.com/B1EdnMfhNx
— Ben Rhodes -Archived (@rhodes44) January 13, 2014
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Twitter account also tweeted out a similar photo at the time:
Russia responded w/ #Ushanka Hat gifted to @statedeptspox to stay warm&fancy during #US #winterstorm up to @Sochi2014 pic.twitter.com/yPmWTxydyE
— MFA Russia ?? (@mfa_russia) January 13, 2014
Psaki snidely responded to Wolking, and others’ criticism by tagging failed 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in a tweet as an example of a supposed victim of Russian propaganda efforts. She then proceeded to allege that people spreading the photo were “puppets of the propaganda machine”:
For anyone who hasn't been the target of Russian propaganda (cc: @McFaul @HillaryClinton) the purpose is to discredit powerful messengers and to spread misinformation to confuse the public. Anyone who repeats it is (unwitting or not) simply a puppet of the propaganda machine.
— Jen Psaki (@jrpsaki) December 1, 2020
Her comment understandably did not go over well with some folks, including our own Prof. Jacobson:
Russian propaganda is the Steele Dossier used by Democrats and the media. That photo of you wearing a commie hat is just a photo of you wearing a commie hat. https://t.co/CcXawMr52I
— Legal Insurrection (@LegInsurrection) December 2, 2020
Wearing a Russian hat displaying the Soviet Hammer and Sickle just weeks before Putin invaded Ukraine is playing directly into Moscow's propaganda machine. https://t.co/ZaFWmmZ7oV
— Nile Gardiner (@NileGardiner) December 2, 2020
"If you criticize me you're Putin's puppet" is a hell of a great start for Biden's spox. https://t.co/B934YrPxvC
— Larry O'Connor (@LarryOConnor) December 2, 2020
???
You put the pink hammer & sickle hat on. If your argument is that you were duped into wearing it by the Russians so that they could exploit you as a useful idiot for propaganda purposes … Yeah, agreed. And that's the problem. You let that happen. https://t.co/OzoxTXceHt
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) December 2, 2020
You wore the hat, Jen. You didn’t have to. Saying you wore the hat is not misinformation. It’s a fact. This is gaslighting, at best. You may want to reasses who here was a stooge. https://t.co/QzNn9swtMe
— Courtney (@CShadegg) December 2, 2020
Not surprisingly, some in the media rushed to Psaki’s defense, including the USA Today, which published a ridiculous “fact check” proclaiming that the picture was “missing context”:
Fact check:
The claim: A photo shows Jen Psaki, Joe Biden's pick for press secretary, wearing a hammer and sickle hat while posing with officials from Russia.
Our ruling: Missing context https://t.co/r36VAwWZWV
— USA TODAY Politics (@usatodayDC) December 1, 2020
From their “fact check“:
Jen Psaki, recently named White House press secretary for President-elect Joe Biden, is seen in a 2014 photo posing with the Russian foreign minister and his spokesperson, along with then-Secretary of State John Kerry. She is wearing a pink hat with a hammer and sickle emblem, which was a gift from the Russians that she returned. At the time, Psaki was spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. The image is real, but claims that the hat was anything more a gift or that Psaki was with Russian officials in any capacity beyond her official role are MISSING CONTEXT.
Others were quick to fact check their fact check with some of their own:
This is not a "fact check."
USA Today is engaged in partisan editorializing to spin a damning photo of a Democrat.
Jen Psaki was photographed wearing a hammer & sickle hat.
Claiming there is "missing context" while in effect criticizing conservatives doesn't change that. https://t.co/DZEBaG9Rcu
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) December 1, 2020
Claim: "Fact-checkers" are nothing but spin machine shills for Democrats.
Ruling: True. https://t.co/4c4lklXTuW
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) December 2, 2020
@USATODAY and @usatodayDC are total hacks.
"A photo of a woman doing exactly what is described needs more context, but Trump's campaign using America's national bird on a t-shirt is definitely Nazi symbolism."
Dirt bags. https://t.co/XRaqGarlT1 pic.twitter.com/j836EkgQRk
— Fuzzy Chimp (@fuzzychimpcom) December 2, 2020
My ruling: You're useless hacks. https://t.co/QykYlTlNLL
— Physics Geek (@physicsgeek) December 2, 2020
It’s all rather ironic considering all that Democrats and the media have tried to pull over the last four years with President Trump and the bogus “Russia collusion” hoax.
Breitbart provided a timely reminder Tuesday that this is not the first time “Obama officials raised eyebrows regarding Russian symbols”:
It’s not the first time that Obama officials raised eyebrows regarding Russian symbols. Former White House press secretary Jay Carney was mocked in 2014 after posters of Soviet propaganda were spotted in his home.
Move along, nothing to see here … right?
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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Comments
OMG, people that worked for Trump that never met a Russian or left the US were said to be meeting with Russians. Now we get nothing to see here folks.
I think it is very troubling that people in the Biden campaign may be in collusion with the Russians. A full and complete investigation is required. We should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate this, and all crimes by all people that may be discovered during the course of this investigation, whether, or not, any such crime is connected with said collusion.
I was going to say the same thing. So I’ll just say…
“PEACH 46!”
Strange how the media cry of “Needs more content” was not raised for Nicholas Sandmann when he was being flogged unmercifully through the media for his hat by the same people who are crying now.
She was a dipsh*t when working for the Obamunists and apparently still is one.
The media are scum.
along with HARF!
The two of them were Lucy and Ethel.
Also, recall Democrat Anita Dunn and her admiration for Mao.
Doth the Marxist media complain too much.
I heard it on good authority that the pink hat is made of a special pee-resistant Russian beaver fur. We need another $42MM piss investigation.
She and Kerry sure look like they are having fun with the Russians.
Or maybe they were in on the joke that Russia would annex Crimea two months later.
I wonder why the USA Today factor checker didn’t use the actual picture that they were talking about, it might have added a little context to the reader.
Cut ZERO slack! Media handlers know that imagery is important, ask Dukakis about rides in tanks.
Personally, I don’t give Che shirts a pass. Do not condone murderous tyrants!
I have a Red Army Ushanka with the Red Star and Hammer/Sickle device, too. Mine is blue not pink. I call it a “Cold War war trophy”. My dad brought Nazi daggers back from his service with Patch’s 7th Army in WW2.
The Psaki bitch may be a real dirt bag, but I’m sure she has more serious issues than this.
Honestly, folks, the hat should be a nothing-burger. I’m not big into nostalgic pseudo-war-trophies, but it’s just a gift of a hat. (I know lots of military folks who have foreign military gear. A lot of it from trading with our ‘allies’ when deployed to far-off lands.)
And, if the media had simply rolled their eyes and said that and moved on, I personally wouldn’t care.
But they had to go blitz defense on this and demonstrate, yet again, that they are in the tank for Democrats and other progressives. It’s downright amazing.
What’s the difference between a hammer-and-sickle and a swastika? She should be treated exactly as she would have been if she’d worn a swastika hat, or rather exactly as a Trump staffer would have been if they’d done that.
You’re close, Milhouse, but not quite on target. She should be treated the same way the media would treat her if it was a MAGA hat.
I would feel exactly the same about a hat with a swastika on it. It’s called a “souvenir”.
Now, if the person espouses ideology making the hat something more than a souvenir (or play-acting), then certainly you should go after them for that ideology. But denouncing someone for wearing a souvenir (that she didn’t even keep, apparently) in a photo is dumb. And it’s the exact same thing we denounce as “cancel culture” when the wokerati engage in it.
I’m ok with goose/gander stuff. But don’t ever believe your own malarkey when you engage in it.
No. You can collect a souvenir to put away in a drawer and remind you of your visit. Especially if you’re taking it from a vanquished enemy. But you don’t put it on and pose wearing it, unless you’re dressing up as a monster for Halloween or something like that.
The problem is what the hammer and sickle represents. Just like a swastika or KKK hood.
I’m really tired of people diminishing communism as just another political ideology.
So, all symbols are off-limits for all time if they have ever been associated with what you deem to be evil? Sorry, no. It’s nothing more than a hat with a bit of history/nostalgia on it, unless you can show more meaning in that particular instance.
Ok super. Now do the Confederate Battle Flag and Confederate monuments.
I eagerly await your comments.
You remind me of people in their 20’s who don’t understand opposition to communism. That symbol was designed to represent a system that’s killed over 100 million people. The hammer and sickle STILL represents that system. It’s like wearing a che tshirt. Either you’re too stupid to understand what you’re doing or you support the end goal.
I brought back several Soviet posters from my short stay in the USSR as a reminder was who were our adversaries. Also had Mao’s Red Book…but never… would be stupid enough to be photoed as a government official in that hat…the Russians were grateful for that mislabeled “Reset” button also. Nothing like being tone deaf to politics. Lenin would tag her with the “useful idiot” label and it fits.
I might own a war-trophy Nazi flag… but you won’t catch me marching down the street smiling and flying it from a pole.
How about a little Mao?
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/white-house-christmas-decor-featuring-mao-zedong-comes-under-fire
or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi1zg2NOCn8
Once a bunch of commies, always a bunch of commies.
That’s a pussy hat.
rhhardin….
Yeah….it’s the Russian Version…
Yeah nothing to see here….missing context…..ok. How about I provide some context?
Jen Psaki was the spokesperson for the US State Department; the everyday face of our nation’s foreign policy. With the current Sec State John Kerry present and observing she allowed herself to be maneuvered into putting on a pink hat with Soviet Symbols.
She, and her boss, John Kerry then allowed themselves to be maneuvered into being photographed with Psaki wearing the damn thing. This was January 13, 2014 according to the photos.
In February of 2014, Russian forces staged an asymmetric operation of pro-Russian protests in Sebastopol. Days later Russian forces in subdued uniforms took control of the Parliament building. A few weeks later Crimea declared it’s ‘independence’ from Ukraine on 16 March. Two days later the newly ‘independent’ Crimea was annexed by Russia.
So there is your context. Either a diplomatic failure to convince the Russians not to continue ratcheting up tensions with Ukraine by going into Crimea or a success by giving the Russians the green light to take Crimea but stop there.
Tell us Jen which is it?
The almost prevented the Crimea annexation, but James Taylor broke a guitar string.
“The image is real, but claims that the hat was anything more a gift or that Psaki was with Russian officials in any capacity beyond her official role are MISSING CONTEXT.”
It is always a bad sign for the Communists if the Joseph Goebbels media starts yammering about “context” in a so-called fact check. “Some are claiming Hitler gassed millions of Jews and started a world war that killed millions more, but the claim is MISSING CONTEXT!”
These people are truly evil.
OK, here’s some more context: It was a Monday, she’d had ${FOOD_ITEM} for breakfast that morning, and the Dow that day hit ${SOME_NUMBER}. None of those are any less relevant than the items USA Today added.
The media, academia, and the DNC are controlled by the Chinese Communist Party.
There’s no context needed. She was born in ’78 so she knew better to put that hat on. She could have said, “thanks” and moved on but instead planted it on her head for a photo op. To me, there’s little difference between wearing that and wearing a swastika or KKK hood.
Ms. Psaki is to be complimented for finally coming out of the closet – as in intellectual lightweight enthralled by a political and economic system that killed millions. I suppose, for Psaki, those deaths are a small price to pay if she can just keep her career and appear “stylish.” What a disgusting human being.
No explanation necessary. As easily understood as skull and crossbones.
They’re right about one thing – a pink hat is the least of her offenses.
Remember, that douchebag obama’s press secretary had Soviet artwork glorifying communism in his home.
These people are what they are.
Split America in two and be done with it. We’ll all be happier – except the creepy people we leave behind.
Obama’s Press Secretary Jay Carney Decorates His Kitchen in Soviet Propaganda:
https://freedomoutpost.com/obamas-press-secretary-jay-carney-decorates-kitchen-soviet-propaganda/
J. Fred Cardboard
In terms of land area, the commie zones would be tiny islands in a sea of red.
I’m feeling like a great white….
Well, at least the Russian’s “pu$$y hats” are classier than ours!
Her biggest tell for her commie underpinnings is standing next to John F’n Kerry.
She could have said “It was a souvenir from the Russians. What did you think it would show?” After all, she supposed to be some sort of comms expert. Instead, this magical comms expert decides to promote Joe’s message of unity by turning it into a partisan attack. We knew Joe’s “unity” is a flaming, hypocritical farce, and she has just proved it.
As far as the “missing context” line, I’m still waiting for the “missing context” application to the President’s Charlottesville remarks “there are good people on both sides.” That one has been missing context for four years.
Slobbering bunch of clueless sycophants.
Again, if she had a souvenir from the Germans with a swastika on it she would not have worn it and posed with it, unless it was as some sort of Halloween costume.
And we know from blackface examples how far the halloween costume excuse gets you if you’re offending the left.
To the vile, callous and historically indifferent/ignorant Dhimmi-crats, communist symbols and regalia don’t represent an oppressive and evil sociopolitical system that has killed, tortured, oppressed and impoverished hundreds of millions of people; they are emblems of “radical chique” — a means of demonstrating one’s allegedly “cool” “revolutionary” bona fides. It’s how a photograph of Marxist thug, Che Guevera becomes a ubiquitous dorm room poster and t-shirt, among Dhimmi-crats.
It’s why idiot Jay Carney, former spokesman for vile Obama (and, now employed by Amazon.com) decorated his D.C. townhouse with framed propaganda posters from the Soviet Union.
I meant to write “radical chic,” above.
Ah Jen–a cute litle Commie Sack of Something or other that doesn’t smell so good. But at least Joe won’t be sniffing her hair.