Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, now an MSNBC host, had what was described as a “total meltdown” in response to conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s questions about rampant crime in Washington, D.C., with Psaki getting extremely flustered after Johnson hit a nerve with his signature sense of humor.
For background, during an August 13, 2025, segment of Psaki’s show “The Briefing,” the former Biden press secretary dismissed questions from Johnson for their “insanity” after Johnson made references to Edward “Big Balls” Coristine, a 19-year-old former employee of The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Moreover, Psaki dismissed Johnson on the grounds of his being a “right-wing” YouTube personality.
Speaking on “The Briefing,” Psaki introduced a pre-recorded clip of Johnson’s questions by saying, “Oh boy, okay, right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson. Let’s do this.” Psaki then played the clip of Johnson, who began by saying, “Nancy Pelosi has attacked the president for deploying the National Guard to the city, saying that it is to cover for his incompetence.”
Continuing, Johnson said, “Hillary Clinton has also attacked the president for securing the city of Washington, DC.” The conservative commentator then added, “I’d like to get your response.” Johnson went on, “Follow-up to that: given the heroic actions of a member of this administration just a few blocks from this building, will the president consider giving the Presidential Medal of Freedom to ‘Big Balls?'”
Notably, Johnson was apparently referring to an August 3, 2025, attack on Edward “Big Balls” Coristine near the White House. According to press accounts of the incident, Coristine was assaulted by two 15-year-old suspects, who were stopped by the police at the scene. Coristine sustained several serious injuries, including a broken nose and a concussion, and the president responded by vowing to “run this city how it should be run.”
In response to Johnson’s first question, Psaki began by saying, “Well, Benny, I have to hand it to you that didn’t disappoint with the insanity of that question.” She continued, “Nancy Pelosi is right, the deployment of the National Guard is definitely not about actually lowering the crime rate that has been going down. It’s about changing the subject.”
Attempting to establish a foundation for her argument, Psaki went on to say that the president’s deployment of the Guard in D.C. is “about normalizing military in the streets.” She then addressed Johnson’s second question, saying, “As for big balls, which I can’t believe we have to say on the TV show, but here we are in 2025…what happened to him was horrible.”
"*" indicates required fields
Continuing, Psaki said that she wishes Coristine “a speedy recovery,” adding that “everybody should,” but clarified, “But the people who typically receive the Medal of Freedom have decades of public service or storied careers under their belts. They aren’t a 19-year-old software engineer, so I don’t see how he would make the nomination list, but then again, it’s the Donald Trump presidency, so who knows?” Johnson responded on X by saying that Psaki “had a total meltdown LIVE On-Air at MSNBC” over his questions.”
Watch Psaki’s reaction to Johnson:
Featured image credit: video screengrab