White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday defended United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield amid criticism over comments that the American founding documents are "weaved" with White supremacy.
Greenfield made the comments in question at a speech for the liberal National Action Network's 2021 virtual convention, as she addressed the U. S. effort to rejoin the controversial U.N. Human Rights Council. She said the U.S. needs to approach "issues of equity and justice" internationally "with humility" because of past American moral struggles.
"We have to acknowledge that we are an imperfect union and have been since the beginning," she said. "I’ve seen for myself how the original sin of slavery weaved White supremacy into our founding documents and principles."
Psaki was asked about Greenfield's comments Friday and any resemblance to moral attacks against the United States by Chinese diplomats last month in a meeting with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and others in Alaska.
"Is the president going to remove an African American woman with decades of experience in the foreign service who's widely respected around the world from her position as ambassador to the U. N.?" Psaki responded, rephrasing the reporter's question. "He is not."
Psaki continued: "He is proud to have her in that position. She is not only qualified, he believes she is exactly the right person in that role at this moment in time. I have not seen her comments. I will say that there's no question that there has been a history of institutional racism in this country and that doesn't require the U. N. ambassador to confirm that."
Psaki was also asked whether Biden agrees with Greenfield's comments on the founding documents, in which Greenfield said, "Every day we strive to make ourselves more perfect and more just" despite America's "imperfections."
"Certainly I think most people recognize the history of systemic racism in our country and she was speaking to that," Psaki responded.
Greenfield's comments drew widespread criticism from conservatives, who saw them as drawing a false moral equivalency between the Un... (Read more)
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