A Fox News reporter attacked President Joe Biden by bringing up how a Christmas tree at Fox News’s New York City studio at the White House press briefing yesterday, and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki didn’t even dignify his whining with a response.
“We’ve seen an arsonist burn down a half-a-million-dollar Christmas tree in New York City back out on the streets,” Fox’s Peter Doocy asked Psaki, also bringing up the case of an alleged pickpocket in New York who was released pending his trial, despite having a long criminal record.
Related: Jen Psaki shoots down reporter asking about Hunter Biden’s laptop again
“Does the president think that that’s good governing?” Doocy asked.
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“I think I’ve spoken to the president’s concerns about retail theft,” Psaki said. “If you have specific – and the actions we’ve taken – for specific cases, I would point to the local police departments or the Department of Justice.”
“Go ahead, Kelly,” Psaki said, quickly moving on to another journalist.
Doocy: We’ve seen an arsonist burn down a half a million dollar Christmas tree in New York City back on the streets. Does the President think that’s good governing? pic.twitter.com/6vWcZoFNdI
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 13, 2021
The Christmas tree at Fox News was burned down last week, giving the rightwing channel a front row seat to the kind of crime that they claim is Biden’s fault.
Craig Tomanaha, 49, was arrested in connection to the fire, and police believe that he tried to set the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center on fire first before trying the Fox News tree.
“I have been thinking about lighting the tree on fire all day,” police say he said when questioned about the fire. Tomahana later told reporters that he “didn’t do it.”
Tomanaha was arraigned and sent home on supervised release until trial, a common practice in the criminal justice system.
Fox News has been using the crime as proof that Biden is soft on crime, despite the lack of connection to the Biden administration or any specific policy.
Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt said that “new liberal reform laws” are responsible for Tomahana getting supervised release until trial. Fox host Tucker Carlson said that the incident was a “hate crime” against conservatives.
It’s unclear what Doocy or his colleagues believe Biden should do about the tree burning since it’s not a federal issue, but Fox commentators and Republicans are trying to make local crime a national issue for the 2022 elections.
