Just passing through
File this wanton idiocy under dumb things press secretaries say
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Foreign visitors travelling to the US and arriving by air have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test on entry to the country. At a recent press briefing, the White House press secretary, Jennifer Psaki, was asked whether the same applied to foreign nationals crossing the southern border.
Q And then a question about what’s going on at the border: Is somebody asking the foreign nationals who are walking in in Del Rio, Texas, and setting up camps on this side of the border for proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test? [...] Q — but that is the policy for people who fly into the country. So if somebody walks into the country, right across the river, does somebody ask them to see their vaccination card? MS. PSAKI: Well, let me explain to you again, Peter, how our process works. As individuals — Q It doesn’t sound like it. MS. PSAKI: As individuals come across the border and — they are both assessed for whether they have any symptoms. If they have symptoms, they are — the intention is for them to be quarantined; that is our process. They’re not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time. I don’t think it’s the same thing. Q But they’re here. What’s the difference? MS. PSAKI: It’s not the same thing. These are individuals — as we’ve noted and as we’ve been — discussed, we are expelling individuals based on Title 42, specifically because of COVID, because we want to prevent a scenario where large numbers of people are gathering, posing a threat to the community and also to the migrants themselves.
James S. Brady, Press Briefing Room, White House
They're not intending to stay here for a lengthy period of time.
Yep, a grown adult, referring to migrants gathering at the US border, and crossing en masse, unironically said that. What does she honestly think that they're intending to do?
Personally, I suspect that they plan to stay longer than many visitors arriving by air. Clearly, Psaki isn't too good at thinking on her feet. The role of press secretary is best left to old 'n' grey men, who have the gravitas and experience to wing it, and babes, who can rely on smokin' hotness to rise above any faux pas. Unfortunately, Psaki is neither.