White House press secretary Jen Psaki is being accused of making fun of the Space Force.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, said, “It’s concerning to see the Biden administration’s press secretary blatantly diminish an entire branch of our military as the punchline of a joke, which I’m sure China would find funny,” according to Politico.
He added, “The Space Force was passed with near unanimous support in Congress, the same type of ‘unity’ President Biden is supposedly working towards.”
He called on Psaki to apologize:
“Jen Psaki needs to immediately apologize to the men and women of the Space Force for this disgraceful comment.”
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) also said, “This is just another example of the Biden administration not taking China seriously while demeaning the incredible work of Space Force personnel.”
Waltz is a founding member of the House Space Force Caucus.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, Psaki was asked if President Joe Biden has made a decision on keeping the “scope” of the Space Force.
Psaki quipped, “Wow. Space Force. It’s the plane of today.” It appears she was comparing the question to another question about the Air Force One color scheme.
“It is an interesting question,” she continued. “I am happy to check with our Space Force point of contact. I’m not sure who that is. I will find out and see if we have any update on that.”
Watch Psaki’s comments below:
.@PressSec when asked a question on Space Force: "Wow, Space Force! It's the plane of today!" pic.twitter.com/DBalgiGBVY
— The Hill (@thehill) February 2, 2021
Psaki later tweeted, “We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work.”
We look forward to the continuing work of Space Force and invite the members of the team to come visit us in the briefing room anytime to share an update on their important work.
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) February 3, 2021
The Space Force was established in December of 2019 as the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Former President Donald Trump previously said at a signing ceremony, “Space is the world’s newest war-fighting domain. Amid grave threats to our national security, American superiority in space is absolutely vital. And we’re leading, but we’re not leading by enough. But very shortly we’ll be leading by a lot.”