Psaki Attacks 2A: Claims That There is a ‘Gun Problem’ When Asked if the Nation is Facing a ‘Crime Problem’

At her daily press briefing today, White House press secretary Jen Psaki rejected a suggestion that the nation is facing a “crime problem” when asked about a series of weekend shootings nationwide that left 11 dead, instead claiming that there is a “gun problem.”

Psaki also renewed President Joe Biden’s call for gun control after there were 12 shootings across America between Friday night and Sunday that could be considered mass shootings, as defined by media outlets like CNN.

“I would say certainly there is a gun problem, and that’s something the president would say, and there are communities where local violence, community violence is an issue,” Psaki began in her response to the question on whether or not here was a “crime problem” in America.

Psaki continued, “That’s one of the reasons that we have proposed and now are implementing funding for community violence prevention programs across the country.”

“I will say, that we don’t often highlight … the fact that between mass shootings, mass shootings that get a lot of attention, that we lower the flags [for], there are hundreds, thousands of people who lose their lives, and that’s one of the reasons the president will continue to advocate for the Senate passing universal background checks, but also advocate for actions in states where we have seen the greatest level of activism over the past several years,” Psaki added.

Many conservatives were upset at her attacks on the second amendment and took to Twitter to voice their frustrations.

ACT For America shared a clip of her response and declared, “Jen Psaki is the WORST White House Press Secretary!”

Jen Psaki is the WORST White House Press Secretary! https://t.co/iuYmm60iZK

— ACTforAmerica (@ACTforAmerica) May 24, 2021

A follow-up was asked of Psaki if COVID had anything to do with the rise of violence and she said that she would “have to check” with the experts on that.

Editor of National Review Rich Lowry summed up his thoughts on her answer and said in a tweet, “Crime is like the border–they can’t frankly admit what’s happening, and have no idea how plausibly to talk about it or deal with because it doesn’t fit in their preconceived ideological categories.”

Crime is like the border–they can’t frankly admit what’s happening, and have no idea how plausibly to talk about it or deal with because it doesn’t fit in their preconceived ideological categories https://t.co/c2pOtnDr91

— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) May 24, 2021

It has been nearly two months since Biden announced a series of executive actions that he purported would reduce gun violence and urged Congress to pass broader gun-control legislation.

Thus far, it is unclear what effect they are having, if any, and it is likely that his administration will continue the push to implement more gun control.