Incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday that she was not impressed with the focus on Dr. Jill Biden’s credentials and whether or not she’d earned the right to be called “doctor.”
Psaki is one of several members of former President Barack Obama’s White House team to be appointed again to serve under President-elect Joe Biden, and she sat down with “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace to discuss the ongoing transition. (RELATED: ‘The Message Matters More Than The Messenger’: Sara Haines Says Biden’s Female Comms Team Is Better Than Trump’s)
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Wallace rounded out his interview with the question about the future first lady, noting that a number of conservatives — including some on his own network — had been critical of her claim to the title “doctor.”
“Finally, there has been some criticism recently from conservatives, including some conservatives on Fox News, about the fact that first-lady-to-be Jill Biden goes by the title doctor,” Wallace explained. “I wonder, what is the Bidens’ reaction to that given the fact that so many people over the years, I think, Dr. Henry Kissinger, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., have gone by the title doctor even though they are not medical doctors and nobody seems to have made a fuss about that.” (RELATED: ‘You’re Not Being Straight With Me’: Chris Wallace Challenges Chris Coons For Changing The Definition Of Court Packing)
“That’s exactly right, Chris. It’s a bit perplexing to me and I’m sure to millions of Americans, with millions out of work, would anyone wake up in the morning and decide that the focus they need to have, the way they contribute to society that day is to question whether or not Dr. Jill Biden, someone who is still teaching, who has a PhD in education, should be called a doctor or not,” Psaki replied.
Psaki then went on to say that anyone who went through the process of earning a doctorate should be given the same respect.
“It’s a really silly, sexist, and absurd conversation that’s happening in society and I appreciate you asking me about it,” Psaki concluded.