‘You have had plenty of time’: Psaki moves on after Newsmax reporter pushes Wuhan conspiracy theories

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

White House press secretary Jen Psaki cut off a Newsmax reporter as she pushed Wuhan “lab leak” conspiracy theories during the daily briefing on Friday.

Ms Psaki lost patience with the right-wing network’s Emerald Robinson after being peppered with a string of questions about whether Joe Biden believed the coronavirus was leaked from a Chinese laboratory. Some on the right have latched onto the theory as a way to blame China for the pandemic, but no evidence has yet emerged to bolster the claim.

“The president has said, and I have said from here many times, that there needs to be a credible investigation through the World Health Organization, one that relies on date and participation from China and other countries that may have information. That is certainly something that everybody has called for and we look forward to that,” said Ms Psaki.

Ms Robinson then asked why Mr Biden had “not spoken” to China’s President Xi Jinping about the “origins of the coronavirus.”

Ms Psaki replied that the White House had provided a readout of Mr Biden’s call with the Chinese leader.

But when the Newsmax reporter continued to try and get answers on the Wuhan conspiracy theory, she was cut off.

“We are going to have to go on, I‘m sorry, Emerald, I think you have had plenty of time today,” said Ms Psaki.

The pair had sparred throughout the briefing with Ms Robinson also saying that “many people in the media” believed that Joe Biden’s presidency was “just the third term of President Obama.”

When she was asked which journalists were saying that, Ms Robinson could only answer, “different people.”

The Newsmax host then asked why Kamala Harris was meeting so many foreign leaders, including Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, and claimed that “many people found that odd.”

“It’s hard to react when I don’t know what people you are talking about,” replied Ms Psaki.

She then added that Mr Biden had a full meeting, press conference and dinner with his Japanese counterpart.

And when Ms Robinson suggested that Ms Harris was meeting more foreign leaders than previous vice presidents, Ms Psaki invited her to present the data that supported her argument.