Jen Psaki accused her of “disrespect” to Americans at a press conference Thursday because she “disrespects” her comments that left Republicans asking them to do nothing for their actions against gun violence.
Shortly after the shooting at the Catholic school in a news release, which killed two children and injured another 17 people, psaki posted on X: “Prayer is not scary enough. Prayer won't end the shooting at the school. Prayer doesn't make parents feel safe to send their children to school. Prayer won't bring these children back. It's about thoughts and prayers.”
Leavitt was asked about Psaki’s remarks on Thursday, and the press secretary said, “Incredibly insensitive and disrespectful to the thousands of American beliefs in this country, they believe in the power of prayer, they believe in the effectiveness of prayer.”
“It is totally disrespectful to laugh at the power of prayer in this country,” Leavitt added.
A few hours later, in a recurring part of the “Brief”, called “The Version of Jen” (former press secretary) answered questions from the White House press conference that day – Psaki defended her comments and accused the administration of wasting time on “counter-terrorism of bad faith.”
“Prayer is a powerful source of comfort for many people in the world during the difficult times, including me,” Psaki said. “I feel this way. What I said yesterday, and now again, is that prayer alone is not enough to prevent and end the gun violence crisis in the United States. That's not the case.”
The former Biden administration official called Levitt's response a “waste of time” and said she would not remain silent because of her refusal to act. “So, the question I asked yesterday – and I will raise again today, the question I will not stop raising – the people in power, for example, people in the White House are using their platform to take any other action, demanding any action to take wise gun safety measures.”
Psaki continued: “What they did, but say what steps to be taken to help prevent tragedies like the shooting in Minneapolis. And, since they didn't do that, frankly, they didn't do enough, people shouldn't accept that they did enough.”
“Instead of focusing on bad faith back and forth,” she hopes Questions for Leavitt's next briefing include why the government does not support universal gun control measures, such as universal background checks or bans on assault weapons.
“Adding this long-term violent epidemic requires action,” Psaki said. Before citing a statement by the Catholic group Mercy Sisters about the Minneapolis shooting, the statement read in part: “Our response is no longer 'thoughts and prayers'.”
Psaki added: “Even Pope Leo (the then-Cardinal) retweeted Senator Chris Murphy in 2017, saying, 'Your timid behavior cannot be painted with thoughts and prayers.'
You can watch Psaki's full response in the clip at the top of the page.