The White House press office has long been a reliable path to a TV news career. There are currently five hosts who have worked there before, and President Biden’s former press secretary Jen Psaki joins their ranks

on

Sunday when her weekly hour-long show debuts on MSNBC at 9 p.m. Pacific.

Psaki, who previously worked for former President Obama and John Kerry when he served as

S

Secretary of State has logged enough hours on camera to be a familiar sight to news watchers. But “Inside With Jen Psaki” will still be an introduction.

“She can really speak for herself for the first time in her career,” said Rebecca Kutler, senior vice president of content strategy for MSNBC. “It’s going to be a great opportunity for the audience to get to know Jen.”

“Inside

W

ith Jen Psaki” will move beyond the traditional TV platform. It will be available to stream on Peacock after that

air runs

on MSNBC, along with a second edition

air runs

exclusively on the service. So Psaki wants to take over

by

MSNBC’s flagship newsletter on Saturday and later this year will have an additional show on YouTube.

In a recent interview, Psaki, 44, shared some thoughts about her career and the next phase.

MSNBC targets a politically progressive audience. But many people who still sit down in front of the television are looking for a more straightforward conversation about the news. Are you going to see it as an opinion show or a more down-the-middle news show?

I think about it more than I choose

O

Option C, an informed show. I worked for Democratic politicians for 20 years, including two Democratic presidents. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t work on those campaigns and wasn’t in the situation room or on the campaign bus. That wouldn’t be very helpful for viewers. I’m also not going to pretend that I haven’t long supported a woman’s right to choose, or people’s ability to marry who they want, or be who they want, because that wouldn’t be authentic.

But I also think

That

we have sometimes moved away from what I would consider healthy discussions and debates on a range of issues. And I’ll be sure to invite a series of Republicans on the show to engage with them.

i

f they say something that is false or inaccurate

,

I’ll call that out. But I also think my experience in government is about having those discussions as a healthy part of the debate.

What was the politics like in Stamford, Connecticut, the home where you grew up?

I grew up in a kind of split household, where my mother would vote for any Democrat, no matter who they were. My father was a Northeast Republican,

Like, Chris Shays was our congressman, so

not about social issues, more about fiscal issues. He is a born-again progressive. He’s 80 now, so he became a Democrat in his late fifties or early sixties. But growing up, one of my first political memories was of my father telling my mother, “You’re the only person in the country who voted for Walter Mondale.” And I was, like

six 6

or

five 5

at that point, and I was like, “Mom, man, you’re the only person?”

In your previous job, you were known as a calm and unwavering presence in the White House briefing room. Is there something about your habits that keeps you that way? Is it Yoga? eating pattern jesus christ?

My sister is an ordained Unitarian minister, so I wish I could say it

That

it was my connection to my faith, which I need to work on more. But I would say that when people panic and there is complete chaos around me, my instinctive response is to be calm, because I don’t want to plunge into the chaos.

There are many universities and colleges in DC

.

So if I met students on the street, they’d ask me, “What’s in your head when so-and-so asks you a silly question?”

right?

And I would say, “Sometimes I think I’m a nurse in an insane asylum. And if I talk slowly and calmly, everyone will calm down. I have a little bit of an Irish temper sometimes, so that comes out. But I also think in those job, which was one of the first conversations I had with the

P

resident was about the need to return peace and stability.

A friend of yours, a seasoned media veteran, told me that you may be too normal to be on TV. She said you’re not needy. Not a self-promoter. Not self absorbed. Is she right?

Well, that’s a huge compliment, and my mom, if she reads this story, which she will, would love that

the

most of everything in it. My mom is a family therapist who grew up in Queens, NY and always says everything originated in Queens. She says, “That’s where you get your guts and your character,” even though I didn’t grow up there. It didn’t matter what job I ever had, if she ever saw me getting too big for my pants, or knocking people down, or not treating people with value and respect, that would disappoint her the most. She wouldn’t care if I had a big job. I always think, what would my mom think?” about whatever’s going on, and that’s a big ground for me.

Do you think President Biden was punished for not being entertaining enough as president? Did Donald Trump distort the public’s perception of what a president’s performance skills should be?

There were never people on the record who would say:

“It’s boring,” or “Ugh, so much policy, paper, and briefings.”

you know?

And my reaction to that was always a little bit

,

like, “Well, if you’re not interested in briefing papers

,

and background calls

,

and the policies that are going to affect people’s lives, maybe you should treat them a little differently.” But the truth

is,

the vast majority of White House reporters loved the return to policy.

Your exchanges with Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy were legendary. Do you stay in touch?

I like Peter very much. We had a good relationship. We had a lot of fun back and forth, and sometimes heated back and forth in the briefing room. That is healthy in a democracy. Peter and I also had many conversations in my office about a variety of topics. I have always found him professional.

Well, what do you think of what we’ve seen over the past few weeks at Fox News in the court filings the Dominion Voting Systems defamation case against the network? There was a lot of internal talk about helping Republican candidates. Will it affect how Democrats deal with Fox News in the future?

I don’t think there is an easy answer. The challenge, at least for now, is that it doesn’t hurt [Fox News] so much. If Democrats don’t appear on their broadcast, what do they care? That’s not a big part of their business model, as far as I know. At the same time, Fox has huge viewership, including a number of Democrats. I appeared on “Fox News Sunday” more than on any other Sunday show when I was at the White House as press secretary because I felt it was important to have a voice there. There are people like Pete Buttigieg and certainly others who were quite effective on Fox. And I don’t know if it’s right to say that no one should do that anymore. You are giving up a huge landscape.

So who came up with the show’s name? And what does it tell the viewer?

It was a group effort. I wanted it to say something other than my name about what we were trying to do. I think the hope is what we’re going to do is bring people into the room a little bit by people that I know in government, or have known in the past, to really talk about and go deep into what the problems are, to bring people into the lives of politicians and people you see in public and show another side. That’s what people will get out of the show.

What do you bring to this role that we don’t already know about you?

A huge curiosity about a lot of things happening in the world, whether it’s what the hell is happening in China, exactly how the war in Ukraine will end, how all these Senate races will land, who will be the Republican nominee? And even things people don’t know about me. Of course I am a mother. I am also obsessed with the Olympics. I am a Cincinnati Bengals fan. So I’m curious about a million things.

The best advice I’ve received is to make it a conversation. And also the second part which is perhaps even more important is listening to what people are saying and responding to it

,

and don’t get so caught up in what your plan is for the show that you don’t take the conversation to the most interesting place.

You are a Bengals fan. I have a feeling a Joe Burrow booking is on the horizon.

Oh my God, that’s the dream. My in-laws said if he ever got on this show they would all come to the interview so I said that was fine.

Has it already been discussed?

Yes, he has an open invitation to come. Or we come to him.