On Wednesday, as music from his favorite band filled the room, White House press secretary Jay Carney took to the podium for his final administration briefing.
When the music from Guided By Voices was lowered, he told the amused crowd:
“Now that is some good rock ‘n’ roll. As if you didn’t know. Well, thank you for that. That was pretty awesome, Guided By Voices introduction. I appreciate that.”
And yes, it was one of those many moments from Carney that we love — moments that humanize the administration and make the man behind the podium, be it he or President Obama, more relatable.
“I just want to say thank you to all of you here,” Carney said. “This has been an extraordinary experience, and I have loved every minute of every day, even the many minutes of many days that I’ve spent in this room.”
We’ll miss that about Carney, who is leaving the White House after nearly five and a half years in the administration. He first served as Vice President Joe Biden’s communications director before becoming press secretary in early 2011, after President Barack Obama’s longtime aide Robert Gibbs left the job.
And though we’re not sure what’s next for the 49-year-old former press secretary, we’re confident he’ll continue to be that down-to-earth, but epic guy who had Obama’s back in the White House.
Like just recently when he threw major shade at former Vice President Cheney (and dare we say it…Dubya Bush) for criticizing Obama’s stand on foreign policy:
Always telling it like it is…
Or that time he addressed the faux outrage over Jay Z and Beyonce’s Cuba trip. (If you recall, Jay Z hinted that Obama authorized the trip in the song “Open Letter”):
“I guess nothing rhymes with treasury.” That’s a BOOP!
We can’t forget that time he rocked a beard and everybody went crazy because he’s such a hipster:
So Williamsburg, Brooklyn…
But back to having the President’s back. Any time he had to let a reporter know he was not about to entertain their “birther” questions about Obama:
Did he just shade this man and call him Donald Trump? We love!
And anytime he had to shut down a reporter with the real true facts (this one in particular about the gender gap and wages):
We loved it when he responded to silly questions with silly answers:
Reporter: Jay, on a lighter note, is the President following at all the story of Jeremy Lin, the Knicks sensation — “Linsanity,” that kind of seems to be catching the world by storm? I understand the Chinese are very interested in him as well.
MR. CARNEY: … [H]e’s very impressed and fully up to speed. -_-
That time he had to resort to mocking — and it didn’t seem petty to us at all:
And of course, on the last day at the job when he walked out to his favorite band like the coolest cat to ever grace a briefing room:
We’re sure he learned that from Obama…
Wishing you the best of luck, Jay Carney.
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO SOURCE: YouTube
