An explanation has been provided by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki as to why the Biden administration uses a phony-baloney Hollywood-style set when Biden signs executive orders or takes Zoom calls with others. She delivered the explanation during an interview on the podcast of a Hollywood actor. Not just any actor, but Rob Lowe who played Sam Seaborn in the television show The West Wing.

Lowe asked Psaki about the curiosity surrounding the faux White House where Biden sits behind a small desk where he usually looks like an overgrown school child instead of the president of the United States. According to Psaki, the room is just an auditorium and it’s boring. So, they decided to give the place a makeover and now the background of Biden’s multi-person conference calls look so much better, or something.

The actor was curious about the to-do surrounding the South Court Auditorium, which has been given a glow-up since Biden took office with animated backdrops, video screens and pillars.

‘It’s just a place where you can do events, but it’s really not that exciting, it’s kind of just an auditorium,’ Psaki said.

‘But because of COVID and because the president wasn’t going to travel as much and not as many people were going to come here, he does a lot of events and actually meetings from there,’ she continued. ‘Where you can put up a bunch of people on screens and be able to see them and talk to them and engage with them in a way that you would do if he had 30 people in a meeting here.’

‘So they built it out more to make it look a little bit better visually and to ensure he could engage and see them in different boxes,’ Psaki added.

They blame COVID for everything. In this case, they blame the virus for the inability to understand that people don’t particularly like seeing the president play pretend.

Yes, the room is literally an auditorium located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It is on the grounds of the White House and next to the West Wing. Apparently Sleepy Joe needs a screen with some big boxes to see with whom he is speaking. Typical of this administration, the White House staff protect the old guy and have created an alternate White House for him. It isn’t unusual that people seeing the set on their screens began to question why Biden wasn’t just using the real White House because, you know, he has complete access to it at any time. He’s expected to be working there. There’s a special office for POTUS there and everything. But, no, Biden is happy to offer a phony set up to whomever he is speaking, including foreign leaders, and that is unusual. Hey, weren’t we promised a return to normal by this man?

Washington is Hollywood for ugly people, as the expression goes. As it turns out, Psaki credits binging The West Wing in 2012 to her return to politics after having left the Obama administration and going to work as a consultant. She returned to work on Obama’s re-election campaign. How appropriate that she explained that tidbit to Lowe, a.k.a. Sam Seaborn, deputy White House communication chief for President Bartlett.

She also told Lowe that she hadn’t watched The West Wing, which went off the air in 2006, until 2012, while she was working as a consultant after leaving the Obama White House.

‘I binged, you know, the entire thing while I was at this consulting firm,’ she said, admitting to being a ‘terrible’ consultant.

‘I would be working on decks, which is like the worst thing I’ve ever done at a job,’ she said. ‘And I would watch episodes of The West Wing. And in a crazy way it really brought me back to come back to politics and I ended up coming back and doing the 2012 campaign working with then President Obama on his re-election.’

A fictional television show about a fictional president and his administration inspired Jen to return to politics. Hollywood and Democrats have a very long relationship. During a Democrat presidency there is a steady stream of celebrities and public figures testifying before Congress or making visits to the White House. Biden frequently uses singers and actors to get out the word on the coronavirus or to get out the vote. Unfortunately for Jen, Aaron Sorkin didn’t create the Biden White House as he did the Josiah Bartlett White House so there is no pithy, quick-witted dialogue or compelling characters to watch. There is only liberal policy and predictable outcomes.

Jen also spoke about Biden’s one long press conference and called reporters asking for formal press conferences “an obsession”. That pretty well exemplifies the out-of-touch reality in the White House. Yes, the press want press conferences with the president because that is their job. But this president promised to be the most transparent – evah- and that has not been the case at all. Not only does he hide from press conferences, he leaves the room before questions can be asked after he makes announcements. He only asks questions of reporters who are on a pre-approved list provided by his staff (I assume Psaki’s office). Unlike Trump who would speak off the cuff for long periods of time to reporters at every opportunity, Biden all but runs from them.

As they talked about the one long press conference, Psaki said she knew it was time to wrap it up when reporters began asking “cuckoo for cocoa puffs” questions.

‘But there were also questions that hadn’t been asked,’ she added.

Biden called on a number of reporters, including from conservative outlets.

The most memorable came when James Rosen of Newsmax asked Biden about a ‘delicate subject,’ and then pointed to a poll released earlier that day that said 49 per cent of registered voters disagreed with the statement, ‘Joe Biden is mentally fit.’

‘Why do you suppose such large segments of the American electorate have come to harbor such profound concerns about your cognitive fitness?’ he asked.

Biden quickly answered, ‘I have no idea.’

‘It was planned to be an hour,’ Psaki said. ‘He had a list of questioners, just so he knew who to call on. I think in the moment he just decided to take some more questions.’

Lowe wondered why they didn’t ‘declare victory and get off the field.’

‘I’m a pretty chill person, I think people who work with me would say. But I think when some of the questions started to be off in cuckoo for cocoa puffs land there, I was thinking where are we going here with this?’ Psaki replied.

Psaki may not be able to admit it publicly but she has to know that a lot of people question Biden’s mental ability to do the job. That question isn’t going away because he will only continue to slip as his term wears on. She should prepare a better answer than just saying that is a crazy question. It was amusing coming from James Rosen, though. He was working for FNC during the Obama-Biden administration and had his phone wiretapped, as well as his parents phone during that administration. He blew the whistle on that operation by Team Obama.

So, blame Rob Lowe and The West Wing for Psaki’s presence in politics today. Naturally, a mention is made of FNC’s Peter Doocy who regularly questions Biden and Psaki on issues avoided by the rest of the press at the White House.

“In a crazy way, [the show] really brought me back to come back to politics and I ended up coming back and doing the 2012 campaign, and traveling with then-President [Barack] Obama on his re-election,” Psaki said.

Lowe noted that when Psaki was “getting grilled by [Fox News’] Peter Doocy, you’re thinking, ‘Goddamn Rob Lowe’s the one who put me up here,’” The Hill reported.

“All your fault,” Psaki replied.

Thanks, Rob.