Jen Psaki made sure to explain to the media just what a $20 banknote was in her announcement that the Biden administration would put Harriet Tubman on the bill.
“The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new $20 notes,” Psaki told the White House Press Corp on Monday, announcing that the Biden administration would continue the plans to put Tubman, the black abolitionist, on the $20 banknote, that was started by the Obama administration.
Psaki made sure to explain to the media just exactly what a banknote was, in case some of them had no clue what she was talking about. “It’s important that our notes, our money, for people who don’t know what a note is, reflect the history and diversity of our country, and Harriet Tubman’s image gracing the new $20 note would certainly reflect that,” Psaki said.
“We’re exploring ways to speed up our effort and any specifics would certainly come from the Department of Treasury,” Biden’s Press Secretary continued. Tubman would be replacing Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, whose supporters founded the Democratic Party around him. The plans unveiled in 2016 by Obama’s Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew would see Jackson moved to the back of the note.
PSAKI: “The treasury department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new 20 dollar notes.”
“Our notes are money for people who don’t know what a note is.” pic.twitter.com/r1dQ75BWcP
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) January 25, 2021
The movement to put Tubman on the $20 note was rebuffed under the Trump administration, with then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin confirming that any new design of the note would primarily be done to combat counterfeiting issues, and that they would be out in 2028, not 2020, as the Obama administration had promised. President Trump said before his election that putting Tubman on the note was “pure political correctness.”
National File reported last week that Psaki dodged one of the only hardball questions she has faced from the media as the new White House Press Secretary, claiming that Biden actually did set a good example as President when he was caught disobeying his own mask mandate on federal grounds shortly after his inauguration. “I think the power of his example is also in the message he sends by signing 25 executive orders,” Psaki said.