WATCH: Jen Psaki Defends Hashtag Diplomacy on Ukraine, Which Failed in 2014 Invasion

White House press secretary Jen Psaki defended the use of Twitter hashtags in the ongoing Ukraine crisis, despite the fact that similar tactics failed to prevent or reverse the Russian invasion of Crimea in Ukraine when Psaki last tried it in 2014.

Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Psaki about a recent tweet by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken with a pro-Ukraine hashtag:

I #StandWithUkraine. @StateDept stands with Ukraine. The United States stands with Ukraine. https://t.co/7Vj0amAf22

— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) January 22, 2022

“Has that ever worked at stopping an authoritarian regime from doing anything? A hashtag?”

“I will have to say that unlike the last administration, we don’t think Twitter is the only means of engaging or negotiating or discussing important topics,” she said.

“But it is important for us to convey to the Ukrainian people, who do view commentary through a range of forums — I don’t know how many are Fox News watchers, maybe some of them, including social media, that we stand with them, we support them, and that includes their effort to protect the sovereignty of their country.”

Twitter was an important diplomatic tool for the Trump administration — and an effective one — but it was not the only one.

In contrast to the Obama administration, which did little to support Ukraine in 2014 aside from sending blankets and rations, the Trump administration sent anti-tank missiles and other military aid to Ukraine, which was not threatened by Russia for the four years of Trump’s tenure.

Trump also met directly with Russian President Vladimir President — much to the chagrin of Democrats and the media, who bought into the “Russia collusion” hoax about the 2016 presidential election — a hoax that Psaki herself supported.

Psaki was the spokesperson for the State Department in 2014, when the Obama administration used a hashtag, #UnitedforUkraine, to protest the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the U.S. failed to stop or prevent. (The tweet is now listed as coming from Ned Price, the current occupant of the job that Psaki held at the time.)

To echo @BarackObama today-proud to stand #UnitedForUkraine World should stand together with one voice pic.twitter.com/VeMt578UdY

— Ned Price (@StateDeptSpox) March 26, 2014

The Obama administration’s protest did not extend far beyond Twitter; it applied sanctions to Russian officials but otherwise did little else to respond.

The Russian government quickly hijacked the hashtag and used it for its own propaganda purposes on social media.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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