Jen Psaki Holds Her Final Press Briefing, Talks Of Helping To Return “Integrity, Respect And Civility To The White House”

deadline.com:

Jen Psaki held her 224th and final briefing at the White House on Friday and fought back tears as she thanked President Joe Biden, members of the administration and the press staff.Karine Jean-Pierre, who has served as principal deputy press secretary, will succeed Psaki, who has been in the role for the past 15 months.In remarks on her tenure, Psaki recounted meeting with Biden and Jill Biden shortly after the election and being “very nervous” when she went to see them.“Really what we talked about for the majority of our conversation was the importance of returning integrity, respect and civility to the White House,” Psaki said. “The small sliver of my job here and in engaging with all of you, that does not mean that we haven’t let our Irish side show — mine and the president’s as well from time to time.

I recognize that. But on my best days, and as I look back, I hope I followed the example of integrity and grace that they have set for all of us.”Under Psaki’s tenure, she returned the daily briefing as a regular part of the White House schedule.

According to CNN, citing figures from Martha Joynt Kumar, reported that Psaki held more briefings than all of the Trump-era press secretaries combined.

One of Trump’s press secretaries, Stephanie Grisham, held no official briefings.Psaki also thanked members of the press “for making me better.”“You have challenged me, and you have pushed me, you have debated me, and at times we have disagreed,” she said. “That is democracy in action.