White House press secretary Jen Psaki came under fire on Tuesday for what a leading Republican lawmaker called her “shameful remark” about the US Space Force.
Psaki was asked by a reporter during her daily press conference whether President Biden had decided on the future of the newest branch of the military, founded by former President Donald Trump when he signed the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act.
Psaki seemed unprepared for the question, and responded by seemingly comparing it to repeated questions from reporters last month about whether Biden was planning to change Air Force One’s color scheme.
“Wow! Space Force – it’s today’s plane,” said Psaki.
“It’s an interesting question. I would like to get in touch with our contact point at Space Force. I’m not sure who that is. I’ll see if we have an update on that. “
US Representative Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), The senior GOP member of the House Armed Services Committee, called on Psaki to “immediately apologize to the men and women of the Space Force for this outrageous comment.”
“It’s alarming to see the Biden government’s press secretary shamelessly miniaturizing an entire branch of our military as the punch line of a joke, and I’m sure China would find that funny,” Rogers told Politico.
“The Space Force was passed with almost unanimous support in Congress, the same kind of ‘unity’ that President Biden is supposedly striving for.”
U.S. Representative Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), One of the founders of the House Space Force Caucus, also condemned Psaki’s comments.
“This is just another example of the Biden administration not taking China seriously while humiliating the incredible work of Space Force personnel,” Waltz told Politico.
Psaki later tweeted, apparently in response to the uproar: “We look forward to Space Force’s continued work and invite members of the team to visit us at any time in the briefing room to provide an update on their important work. “