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Vogue published a glowing feature on Biden press secretary Jen Psaki Monday after photographer Annie Liebovitz was spotted snapping pictures of her this summer and ended the magazine's "four-year hiatus" of White House women.
Psaki's presence in the briefing room evoked a "collective swoon" following the press' testy relationship with the Trump administration, Vogue's Lizzie Widdicombe wrote.
"When Psaki first appeared in the press briefing room, in January 2021, there was a collective swoon from roughly half the country," Widdicombe wrote. "This was largely due to what she was not doing: berating the assembled reporters, griping about CNN’s coverage of a presidential tweet, or spouting flagrant, easily disprovable lies. " She added Psaki has "a mixture of warmth, humor, intelligence, and edge."
The New York Times' Peter Baker criticized the administration for being so "buttoned up" but also complimented Psaki for "lowering the temperature" in the briefing room.
"Fox & Friends Weekend" co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy was not as laudatory of the press secretary and said that Vogue's interview "exposes the frauds" at the magazine because they failed to give the same attention to the women in the Trump White House.
"It exposes the frauds at Vogue," Campos-Duffy told Fox News. "For four years they failed their readers by deliberately ignoring the most consequential fashion icon in the White House since Jackie O, while laughably fawning over Jill Biden’s dull Talbots look. Likewise, politics and hate for Trump and conservative women in particular, drove their decision to snub press secretary Kayleigh McEnany – a woman who is so demonstrably superior to Jen Psaki, not just in beauty and style, but also intelligence and sheer communication skills. Simply put, Vogue hates conservative women more than they love fashion."
One tidbit from the feature also noted that a CNN makeup artist often texts her tips.
"The Trump administration had a hair-and-makeup person on the payroll, but Psaki is a one-woman operation," the profile said. "She owes much of her current regimen – black eyeliner, simple lipstick – to a CNN makeup artist who has texted her tips. (Psaki has worked as a commentator for the network.)"
"Our media today," tweeted Fourth Watch editor Steve Krakauer, sharing a photo caption from Vogue that used the hashtag #PSAKIBOMB.
"Usually, you have to retire to get this kind of celebratory profile," the Media Research Center's Dan Gainor told Fox News. "I guess being a Democrat also counts. The article mentions a ‘collective swoon’ from much of the country at Psaki as press secretary and it’s pretty obvious that Vogue falls into that category."
When Liebowitz was first spotted at the White House a few months ago, observers couldn't help noting the "four-year hiatus" appeared to be over for the left-leaning magazine.
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Breitbart News White House correspondent Charlie Spiering noted Liebovitz and other magazines didn't come knocking during the Trump administration despite three women – Kayleigh McEnany, Stephanie Grisham and Sarah Huckabee Sanders – serving as press secretaries. Sanders made history as the first mom to hold the position.
"BREAKING: media resumes glowing profiles of White House women after four year hiatus," the Daily Caller's Mary Margaret Olohan tweeted at the time.
Bo Snerdley, the late Rush Limbaugh's longtime producer, tweeted out the news on Monday, asking and answering the question as to which Trump spokesperson enjoyed such a "puff piece."
Liebovitz's White House appearance came just two weeks after the New York Times declared, "In Biden White House, the Celebrity Staff Is a Thing of the Past."
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Psaki has enjoyed largely favorable coverage from the press, particularly on CNN, where she was a commentator during the Trump years, and MSNBC. CNN's Brian Stelter and MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace both conducted softball interviews with Psaki over the summer, with Stelter asking Psaki to give White House reporters advice and Wallace telling her to stand her ground in the briefing room while assuring her the "vast majority" of correspondents liked her.
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