On Tuesday night, after the debut of Katie Zacharia as the new Trump White House Press Secretary, former Biden press secretary turned MS NOW primetime host, Jen Psaki, took her turn in bashing the person who now holds her old job. In the process, she said she jokingly missed former press secretary Karoline Leavitt while also warning the Trump Administration had been “systematically hacking away” at “press freedoms.”
Psaki, known for continuously circling back to reporter questions in the briefing room, began with mocking praise of Leavitt with fellow MS NOW host Chris Hayes. Psaki said, “Chris, I have been saving my reservoir of all of my feelings, thoughts, emotions, takes,” before Hayes jumped in with laughter, “I was thinking about you today.”
Hayes then began the Leavitt talk:
I don't want to take any of your time. I'm just going to say my one quick thought was: Karoline Leavitt wasn't that bad, actually. [Laughs] I was like, "Huh, turns out, huh."
Ironically and unsurprisingly, former Biden Press Secretary and current MS NOW host Jen Psaki went after the new press secretary, Katie Zacharia, before worrying about Trump “slowly and systematically hacking away” at "press freedom." pic.twitter.com/Knbqb81NPt
— Nick (@nspin310) October 14, 2026
Psaki interjected, “Hard yes,” before Hayes went off the air, and Psaki began her own show, notably titled The Briefing, and said, “Okay. I am just going to start tonight by saying something that I never thought I would ever say. Karoline Leavitt, wherever you are out there, I miss you.”
After more than ten minutes of critiquing the short opening briefing and joking about Zacharia, Psaki took a serious tone:
Look, the whole thing, let's be honest, is objectively funny. Okay? We've had some fun with it, but it's also quite serious. I mean, no one has ever done the job perfectly. No one has done it perfectly every day at all either.
Psaki continued to remark about the free press, before saying, “You can't just gesture at the idea of press freedom by putting a figure like Katie Zacarhia behind the White House podium and say, you're doing briefings.”
Psaki then fear-mongered and said, “But Donald Trump has been slowly and systematically hacking away at the kind of press freedom that is necessary to cover a presidential administration.”
“He's lowered our expectations for what a functioning press office looks like, for what a press secretary should be able to do from behind the podium, to be honest. While, at the same time, he tries to ban legitimate press outlets from the White House grounds and from the press pool and from access to places you need to be if you're going to cover the White House,” she added.
Psaki then made her authoritarian comparison and compared Trump and the press to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping:
It's all related. It's not separate stories. It's about cutting off the right of the public to know what is happening in the White House, to know what the president is up to every day. And believe me, there are models out there. Ask Putin, ask Xi. That's what Trump's end goal is.
Pskai closed by connecting the briefing and press freedom fears to the case of Trump barring CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House and asked, “That ruling will be important, but it will also only address a fraction of what this administration has done to try and undermine the press. So, how does the press keep this administration from perpetually lowering the bar on press freedom and accountability?”
The transcript is below. Click “expand”:
MS NOW’s The Briefing with Jen Psaki
October 14, 2026
9:00:21 PM Eastern
(...)
JEN PSAKI: Chris, I have been saving my reservoir of all of my feelings, thoughts, emotions, takes -
CHRIS HAYES: I was thinking about you today [laughing].
PSAKI: I needed to condense them into ten minutes or 15 to get them off of my chest, but I'm very grateful to have a platform for that tonight.
HAYES: I don't want to take any of your time. I'm just going to say my one quick thought was: Karoline Leavitt wasn't that bad, actually. [Laughs] I was like, ‘Huh, turns out, huh.’
PSAKI: Hard yes.
HAYES: You don’t know what you have until it’s gone.
PSAKI. Hard “I agree.” Anyway, Chris, I'll look forward to watching tomorrow night. It's going to be great.
HAYES: Thanks.
PSAKI: All right. Okay. I am just going to start tonight by saying something that I never thought I would ever say. Karoline Leavitt, wherever you are out there, I miss you.
(...)9:14:40 PM Eastern
PSAKI: Look, the whole thing, let's be honest, is objectively funny. Okay? We've had some fun with it, but it's also quite serious. I mean, no one has ever done the job perfectly. No one has done it perfectly every day at all either. But for decades, the White House Press Secretary, through presidents who were Democrats and presidents who are Republicans, has been a vehicle for providing information to the American public, for answering tough questions, for showing the world that the United States values the role of a free press.
And having a forum for reporters, real reporters, to ask tough questions of the White House is also an important part of a healthy democracy. Every country does not have this in the world. So is giving reporters access to the White House, by the way. You can't just gesture at the idea of press freedom by putting a figure like Katie Zacarhia behind the White House podium and say, you're doing briefings.
But Donald Trump has been slowly and systematically hacking away at the kind of press freedom that is necessary to cover a presidential administration.
He's lowered our expectations for what a functioning press office looks like, for what a press secretary should be able to do from behind the podium, to be honest. While, at the same time, he tries to ban legitimate press outlets from the White House grounds and from the press pool and from access to places you need to be if you're going to cover the White House.
It's all related. It's not separate stories. It's about cutting off the right of the public to know what is happening in the White House, to know what the president is up to every day. And believe me, there are models out there. Ask Putin, ask Xi. That's what Trump's end goal is.
This network and two other news organizations are currently suing the White House over these efforts. And tonight, any moment, we are expecting a new ruling from the judge in that case, which will determine whether or not our reporters can access the White House grounds. That ruling will be important, but it will also only address a fraction of what this administration has done to try and undermine the press. So, how does the press keep this administration from perpetually lowering the bar on press freedom and accountability?
(...)
