'Is that really necessary?' Psaki gives her take on Leavitt's 'crazy' White House briefing

09 September

Former White House press secretary Pen Psaki on MSNBC's "The Briefing" on September 9, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via MSNBC / YouTube)

On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made headlines for defending President Donald Trump's comments about domestic violence and fielded persistent questions about convicted child predator Jeffrey Epstein. MSNBC host Jen Psaki (who was press secretary in former President Joe Biden's administration) characterized Leavitt's presser as "a little bit crazy."

During the Tuesday episode of her MSNBC show "The Briefing," Psaki stepped in for Leavitt, answering reporters' questions in a decidedly different way than the Trump White House's chief spokesperson. She began by answering a CBS News reporter's question about crime in Washington D.C., which is what prompted Leavitt's widely panned response insinuating that domestic violence numbers were being made up to "undermine" Trump.

Psaki began her answer by reminding Trump and Leavitt that domestic violence was "most definitely a crime, as is domestic abuse and assault." And she pointed out to her viewers that Trump had firsthand knowledge of assault, given that a New York jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll.

"But none of that has anything to do with the fact that the crime has been on a downward trend in D.C. since the pandemic," Psaki said. "And the National Guard — a group trained for war zones and not for crime fighting in cities — is not the answer to continue bringing the crime rate down, which is probably why they're tasked with picking up trash and shoveling mulch on most days."

Psaki then pivoted to another question from Telemundo's Javier Vega. He asked Leavitt if the White House would support bringing in a handwriting expert to confirm whether the signature seen on the lewd birthday message Trump allegedly sent Epstein in 2003 was in fact the president's own.

While Leavitt answered in the affirmative, Psaki doubted the administration would actually follow through on any promise. She also added that the entire exercise would likely be a waste of time given that people who have received letters from Trump – like conservative attorney George Conway — have already shown that the signature on letters they received from Trump are virtually identical to the one seen on the message to Epstein.

"Honestly, is that really necessary?" Psaki wondered. "I think we can all see it with our eyes."

Watch the segment below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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