With stocks plunging on Wall Street, tensions were rising in today’s White House press briefing as ABC’s Jake Tapper relentlessly demanded Press Secretary Jay Carney explain exactly what it is that President Obama is doing to help create new jobs. When Carney suggested Obama is urging Congress to pass legislation, Tapper got agitated and responded, “so the same stuff he was doing a couple months ago, calling on Congress to pass things?” Critics of Obama will no doubt applaud Tapper’s efforts here, yet even supporters of the President can’t fault Tapper for forcefully demanding answers. Some of Tapper’s remarks that left Carney a bit uncomfortable:
“Well, what is the president doing? We know that he went to . . . fundraisers last night. What is he doing today? . . . [He stood up there and told] Congress about all the stuff that needs to be done to help create jobs and that needs to take place and then he flew off to Chicago. . . . Has he called Mitch McConnell? Has he called John Boehner? . . . Other than calling on Congress to pass things you’ve been calling on Congress to pass for months, what is he doing to help the economy?”
Carney tried his best to explain that Obama has many meetings scheduled and supports bipartisan legislation, yet with an economy seemingly very much stalled (or worse), it’s likely Carney’s job will get even more difficult as more White House reporters follow Tapper’s lead and demand answers.
