Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki argued with a student who said he was going into “Peter Doocy mode” to ask a question about protests outside the homes of Supreme Court justices.

On Wednesday, Psaki participated in a forum at the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago, moderated by IOP Speaker Series director Jennifer Steinhauer — which included a Q&A session with students in the audience.

One student introduced himself as Daniel Schmidt, and prefaced his question by telling Psaki he’d be emulating the Fox News White House correspondent, and the exchange did turn contentious immediately as Psaki interrupted to dispute the quote he attributed to her “encouraging” protests outside Supreme Court justices’ houses:

DANIEL SCHMIDT: My name is Daniel Schmidt. I’m a first-year here. Going to pull a bit of a Peter Doocy mode right here. So, here it goes. A week ago after the Roe v. Wade protests were happening in front of the Supreme Court justices’ houses, you said, and I quote, “We certainly continue to encourage that people protest outside of judges’ homes…”

JEN PSAKI: I never said that.

DANIEL SCHMIDT: I’m quoting from…

JEN PSAKI: I said peacefully.

DANIEL SCHMIDT: Yeah, sure. Peacefully.

JEN PSAKI: That’s a key word in there.

DANIEL SCHMIDT: [01:00:48] Peacefully. Regardless, they’re protesting because they’re trying to impact the results. It’s a federal crime to protest outside of justices’ homes to impact the results. So my question is, do you regret encouraging people to protest outside of justices’ homes? Even if it is peaceful, it still is a federal crime.

JEN PSAKI: [01:01:04] Well, first, thank you for your question and bringing it forward. Let me first say, because I think facts matter and facts are important. I never encouraged anyone to protest. I encouraged them to do, engage peacefully, and to do it without violence, without threats, and without intimidation. And that’s something I said many, many times and I think is vitally important.

It is also true that peacefully protesting in places where it is legal, and it is legal in many places in the country, including outside of some places in the country for sure, is something that is, that is allowed. And I’m not going to tell people, I don’t think it’s the role of the government to tell people where they can or cannot peacefully protest. If they’re breaking the law, of course, they shouldn’t do that. And I also said that, too. Thank you for your question!

During the remarks in question — made in an exchange with the aforementioned Doocy — Psaki said “we certainly encourage people to keep it peaceful and not resort to any level of violence.”

But she also told Doocy “We obviously want people’s privacy to be respected. We want people to protest peacefully if they want to — to protest. That is certainly what the President’s view would be.”

“So he doesn’t care if they’re protesting outside the Supreme Court or outside someone’s private residence?” Doocy asked.

“I don’t have an official U.S. government position on where people protest. I want it — we want it, of course, to be peaceful. And certainly, the President would want people’s privacy to be respected,” Psaki said at the time.

Watch above via the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago.

The post ‘I Never Said That!’ Jen Psaki Argues With Student Who Goes Into ‘Peter Doocy Mode’ To Ask About Abortion Protests first appeared on Mediaite.

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