Ted Cruz dubs Jen Psaki ‘Peppermint Patty’ in CPAC speech — and she approves

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz dubbed White House press secretary Jen Psaki “Peppermint Patty” during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

When Cruz first mentioned her, he teased the crowd for not reacting as negatively as they did when they booed his mention of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Oh, come on. Jen Psaki doesn’t get the Justin Trudeau treatment?” Cruz said. “Peppermint Patty deserves some love.”

The nickname seems to reference Psaki’s signature red bob haircut, which Cruz apparently found to resemble the character from the Peanuts comic strips and cartoons.

Paski was asked about Cruz’s comment in a White House press briefing soon after his speech.

“Don’t tell him I like Peppermint Patty. So I’m not going to take it too offensively,” Psaki said from the White House briefing room lectern. “Sen. Cruz, I like Peppermint Patty. I’m a little tougher than that, but there you go.”