At the start of his final press briefing, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest got a surprise from the boss. To a smattering of applause from the assembled media, Pres. Obama popped in to thank Earnest for his service and friendship over the last 10 years, when Obama first met Earnest in Iowa.
“There are a couple of things I learned about him right away,” said the president. “Number one, he just has that all American matinee good-looking thing going. Face made for television. Then the guy’s name is Josh Earnest, which if somebody is speaking on your behalf, is a pretty good name to have. But what struck me most in addition to his smarts and his maturity and his actual interest in the issues was his integrity.”
Before he left, ABC’s Jon Karl shouted out a question about Vladimir Putin and CBS’s Mark Knoller asked the president where he was going after the inauguration. The president didn’t answer, but will give his final news conference tomorrow from the briefing room. Earnest later confirmed the TMZ report that the soon-to-be former first family will be going to Palm Springs Friday afternoon.