Committed to the First Amendment and OUR Freedom of Speech since 2008
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, November 12,
MS. PSAKI: Well, I would say that, one, the President has been very clear on his view on the role of the pharmaceutical industry in the opioid epidemic. He has also been an advocate for lowering the cost of prescription drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug costs, something we know the pharmaceutical industry does not support.
So, I think the President is hardly in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry. I think they would - they would agree with that component. That is true of the vast, vast majority of Democrats out there as well.
And what the President - the reason he nominated Dr. Califf is because he feels he is qualified, he has the experience, he's ready to take on this job the day he's confirmed, and that's probably why - the reason why he was supported and passed with overwhelming support of Democrats and Republicans just five years ago.
Q Jen, can I ask you a question on Ethiopia?
MS. PSAKI: Sure.
Q Thank you and welcome back.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you.
Q Missed you the most. (Laughter.) And thank you for taking question across the room -
Q Who is behind you?
MS. PSAKI: Oh, it's our regional reporter. We'll get to him in a second.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you for taking question across the room. Maybe the (inaudible) is see if we can limit the questions to two; that would be great for everyone to have an opportunity.
Ethiopia seems to be on the brink of a civil war. The U.S. State Department is urging Americans to leave the country and even providing loan for those who cannot afford to leave Ethiopia now.
The U.S., the EU, and the U.N. are urging Ethiopian leaders to embrace peace but we do not seem to be near any peace at the moment. Is there anything else the White House can do to avoid another Afghanistan-like exit?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I would first say - and you may or may not have seen this - but this morning, the Treasury and State Departments announced the designation of six targets associated with the Eritrean government in response to the growing humanitarian and human rights crisis and expanding military conflict in Ethiopia pursuant to the President's executive order in September.
And I know you've been asking when we would take some action pursuant to that executive order, and so we took some action this morning.
I would also note that we are briefly delaying plans to roll out sanctions targeting elements aligned with the TPLF and Ethiopian military to allow time and space to see if these AU-led talks can make progress. If they do not seize the opportunity and the parties continue escalating the war, we will move forward with these sanctions. But we are currently leaving space for these talks to continue.
Just one follow-up and then I got to go to him, and then there's a Cabinet meeting.
Go ahead.
Q It's the President's birthday on Saturday. Is there anything that he'll be doing? He's 79 years old. How does he keep fit? Does he exercise?
MS. PSAKI: (Laughs.)
Q We see him cycling. Does he do anything else?
MS. PSAKI: He certainly does enjoy a good ride on his bike and does keep fit, eats healthy, except for the occasional ice cream. Who among us doesn't love ice cream?
And again, as someone asked earlier, you know, the President will be receiving a physical at some point soon -
Q Before the end of the year?
MS. PSAKI: - and we will release those details to you.
Yes.
Q Thank you.
MS. PSAKI: And we will release those details to you as soon as that happens.
All right. Hello, thank you for joining us. We have here Rick Barrett from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Q Hi, Jen. Thanks for taking my question today.
MS. PSAKI: Oh, I don't know if we can hear you very well. Maybe we can -
(Reporter in italics can be heard over livestream feed but not in the Briefing Room.)
Q Oh, can you hear me better now?
MS. PSAKI: - fix some audio issues. Let's see if we can fix the audio issues because I just have to go in a minute. Let's try again. Can - can we try talking again - we can see if we can hear you?
Q Yeah, Jen. Is that any better now?
Q No.
MS. PSAKI: Oh, no.
Q No?
Q Well, Jen, can I ask you one? I'll -
MS. PSAKI: All right. He's going to come back next Friday.
Okay, last one.
Q Thank you, Jen. I wanted to ask you a quick follow-up. You mentioned a second ago that the White House was offering technical assistance to members of Congress when it comes to human rights legislation. What techn- - what provisions were you talking about specifically?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I was answering a question. I don't remember who asked it. That was - oh, it was Brian - right? - who asked about our concern about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, something we have taken a lot of steps on.
As you know, and I think you've asked about, there's legislation. It's pretty common for the White House to work with Congress on either technical assistance or other assistance. We want to make sure any bill is implementable.
Q A provision that would have banned science funding for entities that were implicated in the Uyghur genocide was stripped out of the reconciliation package last week. Is that something that the President was disappointed to see?
MS. PSAKI: I don't have any other reaction. Obviously, we're working closely with Congress. We share the concern about the human rights abuses. We are going to continue to take action as the President's record shows.
Okay, thanks, everyone.
Q Jen, you thanked the vaccine. Do you have anything to say to celebrities who have promoted - like Aaron Rodgers - who promoted alternative - dubious alternatives to vaccines?
MS. PSAKI: You know how we feel about misinformation: We're against it.
Thanks, everyone.
You can visit a collection of all Biden White House posts by clicking here.
Go Back
So, I think the President is hardly in the pocket of the pharmaceutical industry. I think they would - they would agree with that component. That is true of the vast, vast majority of Democrats out there as well.
And what the President - the reason he nominated Dr. Califf is because he feels he is qualified, he has the experience, he's ready to take on this job the day he's confirmed, and that's probably why - the reason why he was supported and passed with overwhelming support of Democrats and Republicans just five years ago.
Q Jen, can I ask you a question on Ethiopia?
MS. PSAKI: Sure.
Q Thank you and welcome back.
MS. PSAKI: Thank you.
Q Missed you the most. (Laughter.) And thank you for taking question across the room -
Q Who is behind you?
MS. PSAKI: Oh, it's our regional reporter. We'll get to him in a second.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you for taking question across the room. Maybe the (inaudible) is see if we can limit the questions to two; that would be great for everyone to have an opportunity.
Ethiopia seems to be on the brink of a civil war. The U.S. State Department is urging Americans to leave the country and even providing loan for those who cannot afford to leave Ethiopia now.
The U.S., the EU, and the U.N. are urging Ethiopian leaders to embrace peace but we do not seem to be near any peace at the moment. Is there anything else the White House can do to avoid another Afghanistan-like exit?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I would first say - and you may or may not have seen this - but this morning, the Treasury and State Departments announced the designation of six targets associated with the Eritrean government in response to the growing humanitarian and human rights crisis and expanding military conflict in Ethiopia pursuant to the President's executive order in September.
And I know you've been asking when we would take some action pursuant to that executive order, and so we took some action this morning.
I would also note that we are briefly delaying plans to roll out sanctions targeting elements aligned with the TPLF and Ethiopian military to allow time and space to see if these AU-led talks can make progress. If they do not seize the opportunity and the parties continue escalating the war, we will move forward with these sanctions. But we are currently leaving space for these talks to continue.
Just one follow-up and then I got to go to him, and then there's a Cabinet meeting.
Go ahead.
Q It's the President's birthday on Saturday. Is there anything that he'll be doing? He's 79 years old. How does he keep fit? Does he exercise?
MS. PSAKI: (Laughs.)
Q We see him cycling. Does he do anything else?
MS. PSAKI: He certainly does enjoy a good ride on his bike and does keep fit, eats healthy, except for the occasional ice cream. Who among us doesn't love ice cream?
And again, as someone asked earlier, you know, the President will be receiving a physical at some point soon -
Q Before the end of the year?
MS. PSAKI: - and we will release those details to you.
Yes.
Q Thank you.
MS. PSAKI: And we will release those details to you as soon as that happens.
All right. Hello, thank you for joining us. We have here Rick Barrett from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Q Hi, Jen. Thanks for taking my question today.
MS. PSAKI: Oh, I don't know if we can hear you very well. Maybe we can -
(Reporter in italics can be heard over livestream feed but not in the Briefing Room.)
Q Oh, can you hear me better now?
MS. PSAKI: - fix some audio issues. Let's see if we can fix the audio issues because I just have to go in a minute. Let's try again. Can - can we try talking again - we can see if we can hear you?
Q Yeah, Jen. Is that any better now?
Q No.
MS. PSAKI: Oh, no.
Q No?
Q Well, Jen, can I ask you one? I'll -
MS. PSAKI: All right. He's going to come back next Friday.
Okay, last one.
Q Thank you, Jen. I wanted to ask you a quick follow-up. You mentioned a second ago that the White House was offering technical assistance to members of Congress when it comes to human rights legislation. What techn- - what provisions were you talking about specifically?
MS. PSAKI: Well, I was answering a question. I don't remember who asked it. That was - oh, it was Brian - right? - who asked about our concern about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, something we have taken a lot of steps on.
As you know, and I think you've asked about, there's legislation. It's pretty common for the White House to work with Congress on either technical assistance or other assistance. We want to make sure any bill is implementable.
Q A provision that would have banned science funding for entities that were implicated in the Uyghur genocide was stripped out of the reconciliation package last week. Is that something that the President was disappointed to see?
MS. PSAKI: I don't have any other reaction. Obviously, we're working closely with Congress. We share the concern about the human rights abuses. We are going to continue to take action as the President's record shows.
Okay, thanks, everyone.
Q Jen, you thanked the vaccine. Do you have anything to say to celebrities who have promoted - like Aaron Rodgers - who promoted alternative - dubious alternatives to vaccines?
MS. PSAKI: You know how we feel about misinformation: We're against it.
Thanks, everyone.
- Contact: White House
- Press Office
| Beaufort County Covid19 Update for November 13, 2021 | News Services, Government, State and Federal | Still In the Age of Covid: The Beaufort County Health Director's Update - November 1, 2021 |
Home
Contact
About
Service Rates
Privacy Policy
Follow on Facebook
Subscribe to Newsletters
Rss Feed
Keywords
Eastern NC Now & ENC NOW © Copyright 1998-2024 All Rights Reserved.
