MSNBC’s newest primetime anchor, Jen Psaki, is having a bumpy start to her show “The Briefing,” as the premiere week for her new program began amid accusations that she lied about not knowing of President Biden’s decline until his disastrous June 2024 debate. Ms. Psaki’s new 9 p.m. show had its premiere Tuesday as MSNBC’s top-rated host, Rachel Maddow, returned to her unusual working arrangement that pays her a reported $25 million a year to work one day a week. In the traumatizing aftermath of President Trump’s re-election, Ms. Maddow had agreed to work five days a week, but only for the first 100 days of President Trump’s second term. During her brief time working five days a week, the liberal network saw a reversal of its post-election ratings plunge, and was comfortably leading its liberal rival, CNN. MSNBC staff and fans had hoped Ms. Maddow would continue her full-time role as a standard bearer in the fight against Mr. Trump, but it was not to be. At the expiry of the 100 days, Ms. Maddow returned to her once-weekly schedule. Ms. Psaki’s new Tuesday through Friday show replaces that of Alex Wagner — the wife of Michelle Obama’s White House chef — who’d been Ms. Maddow’s Tuesday through Friday stand-in when Ms. Maddow was working one day a week prior to Mr. Trump’s election victory. MSNBC clearly has high hopes that Ms. Psaki can fills Ms. Maddow’s designer sneakers. Rachel Maddow has reportedly taken a pay cut to earn $25 million a year to work one day a week. Via MSNBCBut just as she began her show, Ms. Psaki was facing criticism for insisting she saw no signs of a mental decline in Mr. Biden while she served as his White House press secretary. During a recent episode of Semafor’s “Mixed Signals” podcast, Ms. Psaki was asked if she believes there was a “cover-up” to hide Mr. Biden’s declining mental state.“I think ‘cover-up’ is such a loaded phrase. … People use that term as related to Watergate or the covering up of not sharing public information about a war,” she responded.She also said she “never saw” the version of Mr. Biden that unsettled viewers during his disastrous June 27 debate with Mr. Trump during her time in the White House, even though she said she was in the Oval Office “every day” between 2021 and 2022.During the debate, Mr. Biden frequently seemed to lose his train of thought and stumbled over his works. At one point, he declared that his administration had “finally beat Medicare.”The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, March 18, 2022. AP/Patrick SemanskyMs. Psaki also suggested that the 46th president’s decline only happened after she left the White House and started working at MSNBC, telling Semafor, “I’m not a doctor. Aging happens quite quickly.”Discussion of the alleged cover-up of Mr. Biden’s mental decline is accelerating, with a book coming out soon from two prominent journalists that promises to expose details of how the Biden White House concealed his mental acuity challenges. Politico is also reporting that the Trump administration is preparing to release the audio, withheld by the Biden administration, of Mr. Biden’s October 2023 interviews with Special Counsel Robert Hur, which led to Mr. Hur’s brutal assessment of the president’s mental faculties.Following Ms. Psaki’s remarks on the Semafor podcast, several social media users mocked her, noting that there had been concerns about Mr. Biden’s mental state dating back to before he took office, and suggesting she was lying. One user shared the podcast episode on X and wrote, “Jen Psaki says she never saw Biden’s mental decline until his disastrous debate and we were memeing about it before he was elected for his first term. These people are liars. They continue to lie. They will always lie.”President Biden speaks during the presidential debate on June 27, 2024, in Atlanta. AP/Gerald HerbertAnother user wrote, “Considering the average person could see Biden’s decline in 2019 without even seeing him in person, I don’t believe her.”The executive producer of the “Megyn Kelly Show,” Steve Krakauer, wrote on X, “Jen Psaki wants us to forget her role in Biden’s cognitive decline cover-up while she ascends to a regular primetime MSNBC hosting gig. She’s in a tough spot – but it’s obviously false that she saw none of the signs of diminished mental acuity that we ALL saw… even from the outside.”Besides the criticism she has received for the interview, MSNBC viewers appear to be disappointed with Ms. Maddow’s return to her Monday-only schedule. In response to a post teasing the premiere of Ms. Psaki’s show, one user wrote, “Idk if she was the right one for this slot I struggle to watch her I won’t be tuning in.”Another said, “I’m sorry. I can’t watch her after she threw Biden under the bus consistently and cruelly. I liked her so much as press person for him.”Rachel Maddow was described by an unnamed executive as ‘ratings Viagra,’ thus justifying her enormous salary. Via MSNBCAnother person said, “Jen Psaki was a brilliant WH Press Secretary but she has not reached that same level of brilliance in her roles on msnbc. Rachel doesn’t want the full-time M-F gig, so here we are with the network trying to figure it out.”Most White House senior communications officials end up in corporate public relations jobs after they leave government service. A Clinton operative, George Stephanopoulos, who now co-hosts “Good Morning America,” where he’s believed to be paid $25 million a year to work five days a week, is a rare exception. Ms. Psaki is trying to make the transition to a television host. A Biden administration colleague, Symone Sanders-Townsend, who was the chief spokeswoman for Vice President Harris, is also trying to make it as an MSNBC host, though she’s been relegated to weekends.The rough start for Ms. Psaki’s show comes as there have been questions about whether Ms. Maddow will be allowed to keep her undemanding schedule as MSNBC is spun off from NBC News into a separate company, Versant, with new leadership. Ms. Maddow and NBCUniversal have faced heavy criticism over what has been perceived as a ludicrous employment arrangement. Ms. Maddow’s previous contract, which paid her $30 million a year to work one day a week, was widely denounced at the time, and when it was renewed in 2024 for only $5 million less, the situation was widely dismissed as absurd. Puck’s Dylan Byers called the deal “absurdly misaligned” and noted that the network announced 125 production staffers were laid off and offered the chance to apply for other positions, and he said the amount of her salary is “roughly equivalent to the combined salary of about—go figure—125 production staffers.”The hyperambitious NBCUniversal executive who signed off on Ms. Maddow’s original, $30 million deal, Cesar Conde, the News Group chairman, was passed over for the job of running the new cable spin-off and is now losing most of his portfolio. NBC insiders speculate that the spectacle of the Maddow contract has effectively ended his NBC career.Ratings are not out yet for Ms. Psaki’s first few shows. When they do come out, they will be compared carefully to those of Ms. Wagner. At the same time, attorneys for the new spin-off company, Versant, are believed to be carefully studying Ms. Maddow’s contract. MSNBC did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.
