Jen Psaki taken aback after CBS anchor criticizes 'very bad behavior' by US: 'We don't see it that way'

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Media top headlines September 21

In media news today, the media peddles a narrative that horseback Border Patrol agents were using whips on Haitian migrants, Jen Psaki gets hammered for citing Biden's history with grief while discussing errant Afghanistan drone strike, and the media frets over too many white Emmy winners

White House press secretary Jen Psaki was taken aback Tuesday after CBS anchor Gayle King criticized recent "very bad behavior" by the U.S. internationally.

King noted on "CBS Mornings" that "there's a lot of incoming" at the White House these days, given a recent spate of negative headlines at home and abroad for the Biden administration. After Psaki previewed President Joe Biden's Tuesday address before the United Nations General Assembly as forward-looking, King added that Biden couldn't "ignore what has happened before."

"We’re still getting hammered for how the withdrawal from Afghanistan happened," King said. "Everybody knows, many people believe it was time. It’s just the way that it was done … That’s not a good look. You look at what’s happening with immigration. You look at France now saying that they’ve been betrayed by the United States. So I get that we have to look forward. But what are we doing to justify or explain what appears to be very bad behavior on our part?"

"We don't see it that way," Psaki said, before saying the dust-up with France concerned Australia desiring the superior nuclear submarine technology of the United States. "They're displeased about that, but we have a long-abiding friendship with them that's going to endure."

JEN PSAKI HAMMERED FOR CITING BIDEN'S HISTORY WITH GRIEF WHILE DISCUSSING AFGHANISTAN DRONE FIASCO: ‘COME ON’

While King noted the overall Afghanistan withdrawal, she didn't specifically mention the recent botched U.S. drone strike that killed 10 civilians and no ISIS-K terrorists. Biden has called for a full investigation into the tragic accident.

(AP/Getty Images)

Psaki was pressed on the "dysfunctional" U.S. relationship with China, as described by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, a term the spokeswoman also denied.

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"We do see the relationship through the prism of competition. China is a competitor, but it's not a country we want to have conflict with," Psaki said.

CBS joined much of the rest of the media in expressing concern over new border photos of agents on horseback pursuing Haitian migrants. Psaki said the images were "horrific" and many outlets characterized the border agents as using "whips," but the department told Fox News Digital they were simply using horse reins and weren't authorized to use that kind of force.