In some ways, watching White House politics is like reality television show programming. There is plenty of drama, the stakes are insanely high, and the cast keeps changing just when you thought you had learned everyone’s name.
And there may be no better example of this than Jen Psaki. Jen Psaki’s brief, memorable career in the White House as Joe Biden’s press secretary helped establish her as a firebrand and earned her many fans. However, she only had the gig for 16 months, voluntarily abandoning the high-profile gig as abruptly as she began it.
In order to understand more about who she is and why she left, you need to understand more about her husband, Gregory Mecher. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about him, including relationship facts that are both hilarious and inspiring!
The real reason Psaki left her prestigious job
Despite most people not knowing who Jen Psaki was before she became Biden’s press secretary, the world was certainly shocked when she left after only 16 months. After all, this was the most prestigious job she is likely to ever have, and if Biden could win re-election, she would have had a cushy, high-paying job for up to eight years.
Why did she leave so soon, then? As People reports, Psaki was quite blunt about why she was leaving the “greatest job” she ever had: “I’m leaving because I have a four-year-old and a six-year-old. They’re the most important people in my life,” she said. “And my husband, of course.” Thanks to her kids and husband, she knew “this was not a job I could do forever,” and once you know more about her husband, you will understand more about why she left.
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Gregory Mecher is very politically involved
Sometimes, powerful political workers have spouses who never venture anywhere near political events if they don’t have to. However, Jen Psaki’s husband, Gregory Mecher, certainly doesn’t fit that description. In fact, the two would never have met if Mecher hadn’t been so politically active for most of his life!
Back in college, Mecher earned a communications degree from Northern Kentucky University, which is likely one reason that he can hold his own with Psaki, a professional communicator. Mecher is quite a professional as well: he managed to land an internship with congressional representative Ken Lucas. And he remained politically active, ending up working with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. This is how he met his future wife: he was working as the deputy finance director, and she had just begun to work in the communications department.
Somewhat ironically, though, their first interaction involved Psaki being very bad at her own specialty: communication.
A cute (if odd) couple
Plenty of couples have a “meet cute” scenario regarding how they met. This is true of Psaki and Mecher as well: before they could meet in the flesh, she had to give him driving directions to get to his destination. Unfortunately, the simple act of giving him some driving directions ended up going sideways before she knew it!
Psaki admitted as much in an interview with The Washington Post, saying that “I have no sense of direction. I didn’t know even where we were, but I was like, ‘Oh, I think you take a left.” While a little confidence goes a long way, Mecher began to have his doubts the longer the directions proved incorrect. “By the time I got there, I was wondering who the heck this person was,” he said.
Fortunately, one look at Psaki changed his priorities. Mecher instantly went from wondering “why did she get us lost” to “she’s cute.” And for this cute couple, the rest is relationship history.
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Mecher: his wife’s biggest fan
Time moved fast for Jen Psaki’s relationship with Gregory Mecher. They met back in 2006, and they got married in 2010. By the time Jen Psaki became Joe Biden’s press secretary, they had a couple of children they were raising. To his credit, as soon as Psaki got the amazing job opportunity, Mecher wasted no time stepping up as a husband.
He became a political consultant for the explicit reason that it would give him enough free time to take care of the kids while his wife helped the most powerful man in the world speak to the world. Instead of growing resentful at putting his own career on hold, Mecher had nothing but kind words about his wife in an interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I think she’s brought a professionalism, thoughtfulness, and intelligence to the job that people have responded to quite well,” he said. “And I hear about it every day from people how great they think she’s doing, and how much it has brought a calm to a lot of people and stability back to the government.”
And just as Mecher is his wife’s biggest supporter, Psaki is his and praised how “He is so comfortable in his own skin with who he is. He could be in a room with 5-year-old kids, he could be in a room with billionaires, he could be in a room on a factory floor and he would be comfortable everywhere and have a conversation everywhere.” And we can only imagine that’s the real key to having a happy relationship with a communications expert!