Psaki says WH will 'welcome' COVID-19 vaccine PSA from Trump as cases rise

close

Video

Psaki says administration is working with Facebook to limit COVID misinformation

Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy has a heated exchange with Press Secretary Jen Psaki

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration will "welcome" a COVID-19 vaccine public service announcement (PSA) from former President Trump as coronavirus cases around the country rise.

Fox News’ Peter Doocy questioned Psaki during the administration’s daily press briefing, asking about "vaccine hesitancy" and if President Biden would reach out to Trump to "cut a PSA" telling people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

America is facing a rising COVID-19 case count, with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Rochelle Walensky recently saying the U.S. is facing "a pandemic of the unvaccinated" as hospitalizations and deaths rise among unvaccinated Americans.

CRITICS SLAM BIDEN ADMINISTRATION’S REPORTED PLAN TO MONITOR VACCINE MISINFORMATION IN TEXT MESSAGES

Psaki said government data shows that "the most-trusted voices are local officials, doctors, medical experts, civic leaders," as well as "clergy, from time to time," and that those are the areas where the administration has "really invested" their funding and resources.

The president’s press secretary noted that "almost every former president" has put out a PSA telling people that the COVID-19 vaccine "is safe and effective."

She also said the administration doesn’t believe an "embroidered invitation" is required for Trump to make a vaccine PSA and noted that him doing so would be a welcome "engagement."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

"But, certainly, any role of anyone who has a platform where they can provide information to the public that the vaccine is safe, it is effective, we don’t see this as a political issue," Psaki said. "We’d certainly welcome that engagement."

The administration came under fire recently when a Politico report revealed the Biden administration has plans to work with tech companies and SMS carriers to monitor and combat misinformation, a plan that immediately garnered scrutiny from conservatives.

Additionally, the White House came under fire after announcing their "door-to-door" vaccine effort after failing to hit the administration’s 70% vaccination rate goal for the population by July 4.

Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed reporting.