Prince Harry has been quite friendly with Barack and Michelle Obama for some time, and he’s been quite friendly with Dr. Jill Biden and now-President Joe Biden for some time. It started during the Obama administration. Harry was doing a lot of work around veterans issues, and it felt like he was in DC once or twice a year for a while. Michelle and Dr. Jill were both very active in military and veterans’ issues, and Harry often did events with them. Michele and Harry were incredibly cute together, but don’t underestimate how much the Bidens love him too. The Obamas and Bidens both made time to attend the Invictus Games and there are tons of photos of now-President Biden with his arm around Harry in a very affectionate, fatherly way. Well… um, the Biden White House has an official position on Meghan and Harry’s interview!!
President Joe Biden may not have held a formal news conference yet, but his press secretary, Jen Psaki, is commenting on some folks who are willing to sit down with the media: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Psaki offered comment on the monarchical refugees living in Santa Barbra, and it turns out the administration supports…both the couple and Harry’s home country! They’re both-siding it, sort of.
“For anyone to come forward and speak about their own struggles with mental health and tell their own personal story, that takes courage. And that’s certainly something the president believes,” Psaki said, according to Politico’s Quint Forgey. She also acknowledged they are “private citizens sharing their own story and their own struggles,” so the administration isn’t going to offer additional comment.
This is a real hop and a skip away from that former president Donald Trump tweet about not paying for the couple’s security and him calling Meghan “nasty,” but lest one get any ideas about how this Oprah sit-down affects our special relationship with the United Kingdom, Psaki would like you to hold it right there: “And let me just reiterate that we have a strong and abiding relationship with the British people and a special partnership with the government of the United Kingdom on a range of issues. And that will continue.”
I wish Psaki was like “let me reiterate, Joe Biden is as Irish as they come and he’s calling shenanigans on the entire Windsor clan. He made the sign of the cross and muttered something about ‘her majesty’s malarkey.’” I wish that had been the statement. I’m legitimately surprised that the Biden White House did issue any kind of statement, but then again… the Bidens have a long-standing relationship with Harry personally, so on that level, it makes sense. Also, it’s so nice to have a president who doesn’t refer to women of color as “nasty” as a default.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
This is what happens when you have a decent man as a president.
Amen OSTY! Go Joe. And, I love Jen Psaki. I catch the White House news briefing on C-SPAN almost every day and she is great. She’s actually highly qualified for her job, wonderfully intelligent and articulate.
My hubby remembers her from when he was in the military and would catch some of her State Dept briefings. He was impressed with her then and it hasn’t changed.
Every day I am thankful that Joe Biden won the elections. His support is greatly appreciated. The RF and British government were banking on the orange one winning so they could continue to use him in giving the Sussexes a hard time.
The statement references support for the British Government pointedly not the monarchy.
Ok but what did Obama’s anger translator say???!
As an aside: Thank you Mr President!
That racist painting in Apt 1A was not an ignorant mistake. It was typical Cambridge racist passive-aggressiveness. I think the Bidens and the Obamas are polite but don’t care for the Cambridges.
If you want a laugh, look up the pictures of Obama with William at the White House. Barrack is not impressed and William looks goofy and very pleased with himself.
I also notice she said a special relationship with the British “people” and a special “partnership” with the government. Crickets on the royal family, lol. I think that will make for an awkward meeting in June don’t cha think? Anyway, Trump was such an obvious suck up to the Queen and the rest of the royals, Biden will be a refreshing change.
It was a good statement. Offers support but doesn’t “insult” or “offend” anybody directly. Even if Biden wants to rant about the BRF, doing so would be insulting them (no matter how much they deserve it) which would then cause an awkward situation at best and an international crisis at worst.
Yes it was. I think we have forgotten that the White House is supposed to be made of capable diplomats and professionals who can eke out good, neutral, polite and unproblematic statements….as compared to the dark days…
The Irish Times review of the Meghan and Harry interview went viral today and is a thing of beauty.
Thank you, Ireland. <3
Wow, @a0 this is a fantastic article. Thanks for sharing.
I was previously enjoying a mental image of Dr. Jill setting up a Zoom with Harry in a couple of weeks to talk about veterans’ issues, or similar. Thought it would be a nice follow up after the interview, and likely really aggravate the powers that be across the pond to remind them of Harry’s connections.
A statement like this by the President works just as well though!
The fact that the interview was watched and noted by the Biden Administration should put the royal family on notice and make them think twice about their continued media shenanigans against Meghan. Because like you said, the Biden’s are tight with Harry and the Harris family is HARDCORE Team Meghan.
The UK is up shits creek with this Brexit mess and they need the US. The Monarchy attacking an AMERICAN CITIZEN so severely that she was suicidal has pretty much destroyed any soft power they have with the US government.
This!
The stark difference of this and then the wY BoJo approached this interview. Maybe im naive or reading to much into this but i do believe the sussexes have the bidens in their corner. If not they could have just said: the president doesn’t get involved in a matter of private citizens. Instead they showed support in a diplomatic way
I think the President has to walk a line here, because of his position. Obviously, this had been discussed prior to that press briefing. They anticipated that question from someone and I think the response was REALLY well done. It was incredibly courageous of Meghan to talk about her suicidal thoughts on an interview that is going to be watched by sooooo many people. Biden was able to show support by making it clear that he believes what she said. (Take that Piss Morgan and BM and haters!) He also needs to talk about the relationship between the two countries continuing to be strong–we’ve been allies for quite awhile now. But, the monarchy doesn’t truly have anything to do with the US government. He may meet the Queen in the UK or some member(s) of the brf here, but I think that they’re really just window dressing. His response is really well done.
“made the sign of the cross and muttered something about ” her Majesty’s malarkey “”
I.Am.Dying.
So funny!
It wasn’t necessary but nice nevertheless.
This answer is boring and expected AND I LOVE IT. This is the kind of non-answers I want from my politicians about low-stakes celeb stuff that doesn’t have anything to do with most of us. I love a president and press team who cares very little about this because they’re busy with real things.
This, a thousand times. I love that this White House is heads-down, working for all of us, not tweeting and insulting and pot-stirring. Professionals doing the hard work of governing, not turning the highest office in the land into a joke and a reality show.