WASHINGTON — The honeymoon ended quickly for new White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
Earnest made his official debut Monday as the Obama administration’s top spokesman. The hour-long daily briefing went fairly smoothly until the final question, when a Bloomberg News reporter asked him to confirm a report from Moscow that President Barack Obama had spoken with Russia’s Vladimir Putin about Ukraine.
Earnest confirmed it, and several reporters grumbled that Earnest had not mentioned the call during a previous question about whether Obama had spoken with any world leaders on Iraq. Alexis Simendinger of Real Clear Politics yelled out to Earnest, who was turning to leave the briefing room.
“Alexis, you don’t have to get all exercised about this,” Earnest responded, drawing guffaws from the reporters. He noted the previous question was about Iraq, not Ukraine.
“Oh, so should we go around a map every day with you?” Simendinger shot back. Another reporter said: “She’s not getting exercised. It’s a legitimate question.”
Earnest left the room with his aides.
