A video shared to President Biden’s Twitter account conflicts with Friday statements made by White House press secretary Jen Psaki that Vice President Kamala Harris, along with others, wore a face mask “before they went out” to the Rose Garden to celebrate the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
“Yesterday, we witnessed a truly historic moment,” Biden wrote in the tweet, attaching a video that showed highlights from Friday’s events.
Portions of the video show face masks being worn inside the White House, however, at one point, footage from inside the Oval Office shows Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Jackson, and members of Jackson’s family gathered around Biden without face masks.
On Friday, Psaki defended Harris after she gave Jackson a hug without a face mask after coming into close contact with her communications director who had tested positive for COVID-19 this week. Contents from the video directly conflict Psaki’s claim that “the Vice President has been wearing a mask inside” and that “when there was a private greet, they were all wearing masks, before they went out.”
Asked by Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy about the embrace between Harris and Jackson, which took place earlier on Friday at the White House ceremony, Psaki appeared to acknowledge the mistake, saying Harris “was socially distanced for 99.9% of the event today, and she had an emotional moment, which is understandable.”
“She was playing an important role in confirming or overseeing the confirmation of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court,” Psaki said, asserting that Harris was “socially distanced from people for the vast, vast majority of her time overseeing that confirmation yesterday.”
Earlier this week, Harris’ communications director, Jamal Simmons, tested positive for COVID-19 one a day after he attended a ceremony at the White House where he was in close contact with Harris and former President Barack Obama without a mask. Simmons is isolating at home.
This is an excerpt from Fox News.
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