White House Correspondents Insider

Behind the scenes of one of the most powerful clubs in America.

Gibbs Gets Presidential Send-off

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“Obviously, Gibbs’ departure is not the biggest one today,” President Obama joked, referring to the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

So began the 250th press briefing of the Obama Administration and the last time Robert Gibbs stepped behind the podium as the White House Press Secretary.

Obama walked Gibbs into the briefing room after making an official statement to cameras about the situation in Egypt. The president recalled when Gibbs began working for him while he was running for the US Senate in Illinois. “I still didn’t have a lot of money, so all I could afford was Gibbs.”

He then shared a bit of trivia about his keynote address in Boston at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. It was the speech that launched Obama into the national spotlight and set him on the fast track to the White House. But what most of us didn’t know was that they were having a problem deciding which tie Obama should wear. All eyes turned to Gibbs and the blue silk tie around his neck.

Gibbs relented and took off the tie. Obama quipped, [Gibbs was] willing to take one for the Gipper.”

“I have to tell you, that I know there’s a simmering resentment that he never got it back. So as a consequence I wanted here, today, to present on the record, on camera, finally returning Robert’s tie. If he chooses to break the glass, he can,” Obama said as he handed over a frame with the tie, photos and a handwritten note.

“Robert has not only been an extraordinary press secretary but he has been a great friend. You could not ask for somebody better in the foxhole with you.”

Gibbs shook hands and embraced the president who left the room so that he could begin the briefing. While taking his place at the podium, Gibbs joked: “I liked that tie.”

Before jumping into the news of the day, Gibbs took a moment to thank everyone he works with. “It is a tremendous honor and privilege to do this each and every day, to serve and to take part in days like today that are so momentous. I want to thank the president and all of his team for, again, the privilege to serve.”

Watch the briefing here:

The AtlanticWire has also put together some highlights from Gibbs “rocky tenure” and the Los Angeles Times spoke with Gibbs who reflected on tenure as press secretary.

White House Press Complain About Access

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The infamous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil may have spotted his shadow yesterday signifying an early spring but it remains to be seen how quickly relations thaw between the press corps and the White House.

People around the world have been watching the reports of tens of thousands of Egyptians flooding the streets of Cairo calling for a regime change. The White House response to the clash between anti-government protestors and supporters of President Hosni Mubarak has been guarded, making few statements on what is being called a major foreign policy crisis.

Left without substantive updates on the situation in Egypt and shut out from the President’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the White House Correspondents Association sent a letter to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs complaining that “for two straight days the full press pool is being shut out of events that have typically been open and provided opportunities try to ask the President a question.”

The letter, written by WHCA Executive Director Julia Whitson, was sent in advance of the President’s signing of the New START Treaty, the new nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia.

“We are writing to protest in the strongest possible terms the White House’s decision to close the President’s Cabinet meeting on Tuesday and his signing of the START Treaty today to the full press pool.

The START treaty was held up as one of the President’s most important foreign policy priorities for almost a year dating back to the trip to Prague last spring. We are concerned that now his signing of it is open to still photographers but closed to editorial, including print and wire reporters and television cameras.” Read the full letter at mediabistro.com.

In the end, the White House stuck by its decision and allowed only a small group of photographers into the Oval Office for the signing of the treaty.

As reported in The Hill, Gibbs said the decision to keep reporters out of the signing was based on fear they would shout questions to the President about Egypt, and continued to defend the decision by stating it was “part of the coverage plans that have been in place for a bit now.”

According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, March 20th is the first day of spring…

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to leave White House

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UPDATE (4:54 PM): In today’s White House press briefing Robert Gibbs confirmed he was leaving the White House and when asked about leaving and what his next steps were, Gibbs responded, “that is it is an honor and a privilege to stand here, to work inside this building, to serve your country, to work for a President that I admire as much as President Barack Obama. I’ve been a member of his staff for almost seven years, and it’s — again, it’s a remarkable privilege.  It is in many ways the opportunity of a lifetime, one that I will be forever thankful and grateful for. What I’m going to do next is step back a little bit, recharge some.  We’ve been going at this pace for at least four years.  I will have an opportunity I hope to give some speeches. I will continue to provide advice and counsel to this building and to this President.  And I look forward to continuing to do that.”

To view the full press briefing and Gibbs statement click here.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs will be leaving the White House briefing room podium in early February according to a New York Times article from this morning.

Gibbs will continue to be an adviser to President Obama and will work on his re-election campaign as well as hit the speaking circuit.

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks with Robert Gibbs at the White House

President Obama commented on Gibbs’ departure to the New York Times in a brief phone interview, saying: “We’ve been on this ride together since I won my Senate primary in 2004… He’s had a six-year stretch now where basically he’s been going 24/7 with relatively modest pay. I think it’s natural for someone like Robert to want to step back for a second to reflect, retool and that, as a consequence, brings about both challenges and opportunities for the White House.”  The President declined to comment on who would be replacing him but said “You’ll be seeing announcements in due course.”

Rahm Resigns on Friday

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White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel will resign tomorrow according to MSNBC.

Savannah Guthrie spoke on Andrea Mitchel Reports today and will be confirmed on Friday during a press conference from Robert Gibbs. Of course, today Gibbs refused to speculate as to what the nature of the press conference will cover, but the writing has been on the wall all week.

Politico’s speculated on Rahm’s exit and what could happen next, namely that Pete Rouse could (i.e. will) assume the role

A Emanuel-to-Rouse [sic] swap is less notable for the obvious shift in personalities than it is for the way Rouse would appear to be a better fit for the post-legislative focus of the White House after the Nov. 2 midterms.

In the short term, Emanuel’s absence won’t change the dynamic in the West Wing, where he is a fixture in all major policy discussions. Congress will have finished its business by Thursday or Friday and won’t be in session for the next five weeks, when Obama and fellow Democrats, including those in the White House, will be consumed by the midterms.

While the speculation can now officially run wild for the next 24 hours, we’ll wait for President Obama’s “personal remarks,” per Gibbs, tomorrow.

White House Reporters Take Their (new) Seats

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White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs wasted no time in pointing out that the press corps was decked out in their “Sunday best” for the debut of the new seating arrangements in the James S. Brady Briefing Room. With the President traveling in Atlanta, GA on Monday there was no daily briefing back in Washington, DC. But on Tuesday it was back to business.

“Church is full today,” joked Gibbs. “That’s good to see.” Here’s the briefing from C-SPAN.

Most eyes were on the Associated Press who now occupy the front row, center seat once warmed by Helen Thomas – but there were several changes made by the White House Correspondents Association and a whole new seating chart – one that may require a booster seat as Gibbs pointed out to America Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan who could barely see the podium from her spot behind NPR reporter Ari Shaprio.

“Ms. Ryan, you’re going to have to ask that gentleman in front of you to sit down a little,” joked Gibbs. “He’s a little on the tall side.”

Ryan moved up from the fourth row to the middle of the third row next to Politico, which also moved up from fourth to third row. That put Ryan directly behind NPR, one of the contenders for the Thomas perch. NPR was given Fox’s old seat in the second row, directly behind the newly ensconced AP. Fox moved up to the first row in the old AP seat. Got it?

Tale of the Tweets: Obama v. Obama

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Obama’s premiere Oval Office speech last week was the worst of social media and the best of social media.

Mashable ran “Obama Speech on BP Oil Not A Hit with Facebook and Twitter Users” after taking data provided by Crimson Hexagon from “83,000 Tweets and public Facebook comments” over a nine hour shift. But taking such things into account can provide little feedback, especially when 15 percent of the poll were annoyed they missed So You Think You Can Dance and the other five questioned why so many people would anonymously make fun of the president.

[Read more…]

Obama's Oval Speech Layups to Game 6

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Whether it’s happenstance or kismet that President Obama chose to speak an hour before Game 6 of the NBA Finals  for his first Oval Office speech on the Gulf oil spill remains to be seen. The president’s confidence in the Lake-show may falter tonight, but his message for BP and the coast likely won’t.

The New York Times makes the case that comparing the oil spill to the economy may not be far off, “Now the president must strike the same sort of balance in talking to the nation about the oil spill. And he has chosen to do so from the familiar office that Americans since the dawn of the television age have come to associate with big moments — for them, and for presidents.”
[Read more…]

WHCA Dinner Red Carpet Duo

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Move over Ryan Seacrest, ABC News’ Rick Klein and GQ’s Ana Marie Cox had the red carpet covered at the Washington Hilton for the 2010 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Check out the dynamic duo on ABCNews.com as they talked to folks from WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs to Senator Scott Brown to Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow.

WHC Insider Interview With WHCA President Ed Chen

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This weekend Ed Chen will end his reign as the President of the White House Correspondents’ Association. Before he hands the mantle over to Reuters’ Caren Bohan and heads back to Bloomberg, Chen spoke with WHC Insider’s Tammy Haddad at the White House.

The Senior White House Correspondent has honchoed the Press Corps during the transition into a new administration. Recently, Chen and several colleagues sat down with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and White House staffers to discuss grievances from both sides of the table.

“We had a mutual exchange and we worked out a lot of issues, and cleared the air. And I think things will get better, especially from our perspective, with greater press access,” said Chen.

Speaking of sitting down, Chen has offered his seat in the press room for a day to Lloyd Grove whose recent article in The Daily Beast questioned whether social media like Twitter and YouTube would be the end of reporting from the White House as we know it.

Ed Chen at the White House from whcinsider on Vimeo.