White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Stuffs Fox News’ Peter Doocy in Another Locker

Back in May, Democratic lawmakers in Texas staged a walkout at the Austin capitol to deprive the chamber of a quorum and prevent Republicans from passing one of the worst voter suppression bills in the country. Afterward, instead of reflecting on why their colleagues across the aisle felt the need to go to such dramatic lengths to stop the bill, Republicans vowed to simply pass the legislation in a special session. Given that little had changed—the new proposals would ban 24-hour voting and drive-through voting, add new voter ID requirements, limit the assistance that can be provided to voters, and increase penalties for election workers, among other things—when the special session came around this week, Democrats chose to redouble their efforts by fleeing the state and again depriving the Republican-controlled legislature of the necessary number of members to conduct business.

Not surprisingly, the matter came up during the White House’s daily press briefing on Wednesday, and also unsurprisingly, Peter Doocy, the intern—sorry, White House correspondent—Fox News sends to represent the network at these things, had an inane question to ask in a sad attempt to suggest that elected officials trying to prevent millions of people from being disenfranchised are somehow in the wrong.

“About the voting rights,” he asked Press Secretary Jen Psaki, “these Texas lawmakers who’ve come to Washington, do you know of any examples from his 36 years in the Senate that Joe Biden just hopped on a train and left town to avoid a vote that he knew he was going to lose?”

All too used to Doocy’s particular brand of “journalism,” Psaki responded with a look that said, “Ugh, you again,“ before answering: “I think that the president’s view is that these Texas legislators were making a statement through action in opposition to efforts in their state to oppose restrictions on people’s fundamental rights and their rights to vote in their state. That is why they departed. The vice president met with these legislators yesterday and the president certainly applauds their actions and their outspoken opposition to efforts to put in place restrictive measures in their state.… I don’t think anything about this is funny. I think what is important to note here is that there are 28 states, including Texas, where there are laws in place or in process to make it harder to vote, and it requires bold action, it requires bold voices to speak out against that and make sure that people understand their rights. That’s exactly what’s happening.”

While not directly mentioning the Texas Democrats, in a speech on Tuesday, Joe Biden tore Republicans several new orifices for their pathetic attempts to win elections by preventing millions of people from voting, based on the ridiculous lie perpetuated by Donald Trump and co that the 2020 election was stolen. “The Big Lie is just that: a big lie,” Biden said in Philadelphia. “In America, if you lose, you accept the results. You follow the Constitution. You try again. You don’t call facts ‘fake’ and then try to bring down the American experiment just because you’re unhappy. That’s not statesmanship. That’s not statesmanship, that’s selfishness. That’s not democracy, it’s the denial of the right to vote. It suppresses. It subjugates. The denial of full and free and fair elections is the most un-American thing that any of us can imagine, the most undemocratic, the most unpatriotic, and yet, sadly, not unprecedented.”

He added: “There is an unfolding assault taking place in America today—an attempt to suppress and subvert the right to vote in fair and free elections, an assault on democracy, an assault on liberty, an assault on who we are—who we are as Americans. For, make no mistake, bullies and merchants of fear and peddlers of lies are threatening the very foundation of our country. It gives me no pleasure to say this. I never thought in my entire career I’d ever have to say it. But I swore an oath to you, to God—to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. And that’s an oath that forms a sacred trust to defend America against all threats both foreign and domestic. The assault on free and fair elections is just such a threat, literally. I’ve said it before: We’re are facing the most significant test of our democracy since the Civil War. That’s not hyperbole. Since the Civil War. The Confederates back then never breached the Capitol as insurrectionists did on January the 6th. I’m not saying this to alarm you; I’m saying this because you should be alarmed.”

If you would like to receive the Levin Report in your inbox daily, click here to subscribe.

Florida governor refuses to allow his state to be overrun by [checks notes] sensible public health measures amidst rising COVID-19 cases

Not only that, he’s now selling merch proudly displaying his ignorance. Per The Washington Post:

“Don’t Fauci My Florida,” read drink koozies and T-shirts that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s campaign team rolled out just as his state sees some of the highest coronavirus hospitalizations, new infections and deaths per capita in the country. It’s the latest example of Republicans running on their opposition to virus-fueled shutdowns and mask mandates. A pandemic hero to some and villain to others, [Anthony] Fauci has become a high-profile target. While the merchandise is focused on Florida before the 2022 gubernatorial race there, DeSantis is seen as a potential front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. A key part of his pitch: He resisted public health experts’ calls for stricter measures against the spread of the coronavirus, spurring criticism on the left and praise from the right for keeping his state’s schools and economy comparatively open.

While discussing the Florida budget this summer, DeSantis said his state’s rosy financial outlook would not have been possible “if we had followed Fauci.” “Instead we followed freedom,” he said. His campaign’s “Team DeSantis” Twitter account announced the new merchandise Monday. The Fauci items are listed alongside “Keep Florida Free” hats and red koozies that take aim at face coverings with a DeSantis quote: “How the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on?”

DeSantis refused to enforce statewide mask requirements at the height of the pandemic, even as some of his fellow Republicans embraced them. This spring, he suspended all local virus-related rules for businesses and individuals. And while he has encouraged people to get vaccinated, he’s also banned businesses from asking for proof of vaccination, and successfully sued the CDC for attempting to enforce coronavirus rules on cruise ships in the state, i.e. floating petri dishes.

And, surprise:

New coronavirus infection numbers plummeted in Florida after vaccinations became widely available, but they have ticked up in recent weeks. The state is reporting daily cases close to four times the national average—26 new infections per 100,000 residents, the second-highest number in the country. The state’s latest COVID-19 death rate is almost double the national figure, and it ranks fourth for current hospitalizations.

But, uh, screw Tony Fauci! What does that guy know?

Steven Mnuchin continues to do Trump’s bidding despite being off the payroll

That’s true bootlicking loyalty and we’d expect nothing less from the guy.

Tucker Carlson’s first-grade teacher says he’s full of shit

In a long Washington Post article exploring how the Fox News host became the deranged voice of “white grievance,” reporter Michael Kranish notes that Carlson, “in his writings and commentaries, has described resentment toward liberals as far back as the first grade,” pinning his early hatred for such people on one of his elementary-school teachers. But according to that teacher, Carlson’s recollections, like much of what he spews on TV nightly, are complete and total lies:

He attended the elite La Jolla Country Day School, where a woman entered his life whom he grew to detest. It was his first-grade teacher, whom he referred to in his book as Mrs. Raymond. He caricatured her as “a parody of earth-mother liberalism” who “wore long Indian-print skirts…. She had little interest in conventional academic topics, like reading and penmanship.” He recalled her sobbing theatrically at her desk, saying, “The world is so unfair! You don’t know that yet. But you’ll find out!” Carlson said he just wanted liberals to “stop blubbering and teach us to read…. Mrs. Raymond never did teach us; my father had to hire a tutor to get me through phonics.” Thus, Carlson says, he began his sojourn as a conservative thinker, questioning the liberals who he said were all around him, exemplified by his first-grade teacher.

Which is all rather shocking to Marianna Raymond, 77, who remembers Carlson as “very precious and very, very polite and sweet,” and said she had no idea, until contacted recently by a Washington Post reporter, that her former student had ridiculed her as a key to understanding him. Raymond said in an interview that she never sobbed at her desk, didn’t wear an Indian skirt and didn’t advocate her political views. She said that not only did she teach Carlson reading at La Jolla Country Day School—with a student body that was “very affluent and white”—but that she also was then hired to tutor him at his home.

“Oh, my God,” Raymond said, when informed of Carlson’s claims about her. “That is the most embellished, crazy thing I ever heard.”

Elsewhere!

Democrats have a new plan to legalize marijuana federally (The Verge)

Biden arrives on Capitol Hill to pitch plans to spend $4 trillion (The Washington Post)

More than 150 companies call on Congress to strengthen Voting Rights Act (CNBC)

Variant Widens Gulf Between ‘Two Americas’: Vaccinated and Unvaccinated (NYT)

Biden administration looks to set up “red phone” to China for emergency communications (CNN)

AMC share price gets cut in half as reality sets in for meme stock investors (CNBC)

Inflation surges as consumer prices leap 5.4%, biggest jump since 2008 (NYP)

Damien Hirst launches his own NFT ‘Currency’ (FT)

Panera Bread releases collection of soup-inspired swimwear (Fox2News)

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro hospitalized after 10 days of hiccups (The Washington Post)

— Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s Decades-Long Relationship With Leslie Wexner
— Trump’s Deranged Replacement Theory Might’ve Lost Him the Election
— Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk Want to Burn Their Cash in Space
— Three Texans Bust Myths About the Alamo’s Famous “Last Stand”
— The Guy Who Could Send Trump to Prison May Soon Cooperate With the Feds
— Bill and Melinda Gates’s Epic Divorce Saga Enters Its Next Phase
— Juneteenth, Critical Race Theory, and the Winding Road Toward Reckoning
— Trump Is Now Urging People Not to Vaccinate Their Kids Against COVID
— From the Archive: Microsoft’s Odd Couple, in the Words of Paul Allen
— Not a subscriber? Join Vanity Fair to receive full access to VF.com and the complete online archive now.