During Monday’s briefing, White House press secretary Josh Earnest walked right into a trap set up by ABC reporter Jonathan Karl about the upcoming 2016 presidential elections.
Karl brought up how Vice President Joe Biden is leaning toward a run for the White House and asked how the President would deal with that situation considering how his former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is already vying for the Democratic nomination.
Earnest responded politically by saying that the White House is “interested to find out” whether Biden will jump into the race. He added that the President sees his former running mate as having "aptitude for the top job."
“The President has indicated his view that the decision that he made to add Joe Biden to the ticket as his running mate was the smartest decision that he had ever made in politics,” said Earnest. “And I think that should give you some sense of the President’s view of Vice President Joe Biden’s aptitude for the top job.”
Karl then asked, “So I assume that means the President will support president Biden if he were to run? I mean this is obviously a better decision than the secretary of state he chose, so….”
Oops.
“Uh, the President has spoke at quite some length about the appreciation, respect, and admiration he has for Hillary Clinton in her four years as secretary of state,” Earnest replied.
“I’ll just say that the Vice President is somebody who has already run for president twice. He’s been on a national ticket through two election cycles now… So I think you can make the case that there is probably no one in American politics today who has a better understanding of exactly what is required to mount a successful, national presidential campaign.”
Politicians, let this be a lesson to you: Beware of absolutes!
To watch the trap unfold, check out the short video clip with Earnest’s remarks below: