(TheLibertyRevolution.com)- Controversial White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki got angry at Fox News White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich last week when she asked if the president was simply “waiting for people to die” before imposing sanctions on Russia.
The question came only days before Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing Donetsk and Luhansk, two Russian-speaking regions in Ukraine, as independent. A day later, Putin launched a military assault on Ukraine in what he described as a “peacekeeping mission.”
It has since escalated into full-scale war.
On Friday, President Joe Biden gave a speech in which he provided updates on the tensions with Ukraine, warning that Putin had already made the decision to invade the country. He did not, however, confirm that he had imposed sanctions – something that Heinrich thought was important to discuss.
“And on Ukraine, the sanctions, we’ve learned, don’t include SWIFT, they don’t target energy, so the impacts to other countries are mitigated. You guys have attributed this cyberattack to Russia, and you’re warning that the prospect of war is — or peace, rather, is pretty dim. So, at what point do you break away from the strategy and say it’s not working and do something else — impose some of these sanctions now?” Heinrich started by asking.
Psaki noted that the collective view from their national security team is that sanctions should be used as a “deterrent.”
However, they did not act as a deterrent and Putin didn’t seem to care very much. Heinrich knew this and asked Psaki if they are working.
“I think that’s our assessment from the national security team,” Psaki noted, which prompted Heinrich to ask:
“So you’re waiting for people to die before implementing them in that case?”
It’s a totally fair question and an accurate assessment, but Psaki seemed pretty annoyed by it, claiming it is “in no way a fair statement.”
Well, since then, war has started and some sanctions have been implemented. But not many.
Maybe Biden really was waiting for people to die before he did anything…and perhaps he waiting for more to die before implementing any more sweeping sanctions. So far, though, Putin seems to be taking it on the chin.
Watch the exchange here.
