“Jen Psaki’s comments are emblematic of a deep cultural hypocrisy that trivialises the very issues progressives claim to champion,” Meaghan Mobbs, the director of Independent Women’s Centre for American Safety and Security, said.
“To joke about a woman being coerced or controlled by her husband is to weaponise the language of abuse for political sport. It diminishes real victims, erodes the seriousness of coercion, and reveals a casual cruelty that has become all too common in our public discourse.
“In our Women and the West report, we argued that a society’s treatment of women, its ability to uphold dignity, equality, and moral consistency, is the true measure of its civilisation. Psaki’s remarks fail that test. They reflect a worldview in which women are only believed, respected, or defended when they serve the ‘right’ political cause.
“What Ms Psaki said wasn’t humour. It was contempt masked as wit, and it speaks volumes about a movement that has lost both its manners and its moral compass.”
Steven Cheung, Donald Trump’s director of communications, said Ms Psaki was a “moron” and a “dumba–”.
“Jen Psaki must be transferring her own personal issues onto others,” he wrote on X.
The podcast episode description repeated the apparent joke, stating: “Usha Vance, please blink twice if you need help.”
Ms Vance, who met the vice-president while the two were students at Yale, has maintained a low profile since taking up her role as second lady, prompting speculation about her and her husband’s relationship.
