White House press secretary Josh Earnest refused to be transparent today about who made the decision not to send administration-level representation to Sunday’s Paris anti-terror march, but indicated he doesn’t think President Obama is upset about missing the solidarity gathering of world leaders.
“That’s a worthy effort, but I don’t have any additional information on that particular matter that we didn’t already talk about yesterday,” Earnest told reporters today when asked to reveal any details about the discussions at the White House.
“There were conversations here at the White House about that, but I don’t have anything to share about that,” he replied when pressed on whether it had been discussed with Obama yet, more than 24 hours after the million-plus rally.
“Is the president upset that this decision that involved all these other world leaders, that it just never reached his desk? Has he expressed any anger about that?” a reporter asked.
“Not that I’m aware of,” Earnest replied.
“As I said yesterday, and this does accurately describe the president’s view of this — that under different circumstances, the president certainly would have liked to have had the opportunity to participate in the march. That continues to be true today. That does reflect his view,” he continued. “But there were a variety of complications, everything from the fact that this was an event that was organized in the span of about 36 hours; it took place in a foreign country; it took place outdoors, and it was attended by more than a million — a million people.”
Still, Earnest wasn’t yielding when pressed about the transparency promised time and again by the White House — and who was involved in the decision to skip Paris.
“It was a decision that was made here at the White House, the White House takes clear responsibility for it,” he said.
If Vice President Joe Biden went, he added, there would have been the same “onerous” security requirements. “And so I’m not saying that’s the reason he didn’t go; I’m just explaining that that’s what would’ve happened had he gone.”
“What was the reason why didn’t go then if that’s not the reason why?” a reporter asked.
“And again, that’s what I’m not going to get into, is sort of the explaining,” Earnest replied.
“…Because I’m not gonna unpack the decision, I don’t have a lot more to say on this. But that’s — you know, I think that is one thing that you can sort of interpret about my remarks is that it’s sort of an acknowledgement that this is not just a routine matter, that when the president receives invitations to attend an event, we do, of course, have a formal process for evaluating those invitations and getting back in a timely fashion to those who have offered or extended the invitation.”
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