President Barack Obama surprised an otherwise sleepy press briefing Friday afternoon to announce that Press Secretary Jay Carney was stepping down.
He then announced that Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest, who had been with the president since the Iowa caucuses, would take Carney's place, saying, "His name describes his demeanor."
[seealso slug="jay-carney-tribute"]
Meet your new White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest - he's the one smiling broadly. pic.twitter.com/7ZuHb3vJtd— Major Garrett (@MajorCBS) May 30, 2014
Describing the man who's worn the "flack jacket" since February 2011, Obama said, "Jay has become one of most closest friends and is a great Press Secretary," and "has a good heart."
“I’m going to miss him a lot. I’m going to continue to rely on him as a friend and advisor," Obama said.
Asked when Carney's time was up, the president said, "We're going let him hang around a bit to milk it for all it's worth."
He then gave the departing press secretary a big ol' hug.
"I'm excited by some of the possibilities," Carney later said. Asked what those might be, he jokingly said, "Well, I might manage my son's band..."
The White House press correspondents, who had already seen the president speak about a major resignation on Friday, reacted with shock.
POTUS is back— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) May 30, 2014
Whoa! Obama just crashed the briefing.— jennifer bendery (@jbendery) May 30, 2014
This will go down as one of the craziest White House Fridays in awhile.— Julie Pace (@jpaceDC) May 30, 2014
black friday at the White House— Sam Stein (@samsteinhp) May 30, 2014
HOLY NEWS FRIDAY BATMAN.— Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) May 30, 2014