White House press secretary moves briefing to Rose Garden in unusual move
By APThursday, March 18, 2010
White House spokesman takes show to Rose Garden
WASHINGTON — Good thing President Barack Obama’s bill signing in the Rose Garden didn’t take too long on Thursday. His press secretary had booked the real estate for his own event just a short time later.
In an unusual move, Gibbs moved his daily on-camera meeting with reporters to the outdoor space typically reserved for presidents and heads of state. As Gibbs answered reporters question in the formal setting, aides in Obama’s office suite peeked through the curtains to watch the administration’s top spokesman stand on a platform where Obama signed a jobs bill not long before.
“This will not be a regular thing,” Gibbs said as he basked under a bright sun on an unseasonably warm day. “I just thought it’s been a long winter and why not get outside and have a little fun for once in a while?”
Gibbs chose not to enter the Rose Garden using the same path that Obama follows, instead cutting through bushes instead of the grand colonnade. It was a small nod of respect for the venue where Israel and Jordan signed a peace truce, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill making Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday and Tricia Nixon wed.
Gibbs, one of Obama’s closest advisers, spent an hour at the podium. He joked that he was wearing several coats of strong sunscreen to guard his pale complexion.
“I’m kind of enjoying the sun,” Gibbs said while working his way through the White House press corps more accustomed to meeting with world leaders in that setting than their familiar press secretary. “With my skin tone, I’ll probably have a golden tan by the time we’re done.”
As in the indoor briefing room, Gibbs referred many times to his notes and regularly shifted his weight from leg to leg. But unlike the briefing room, reporters were able to look into the Oval Office and see Obama’s senior advisers.
While the conversation stuck mostly to Obama’s health care overhaul and the president’s scuttled trip next week to Indonesia and Australia, Gibbs took the chance to take a few shots at reporters who enjoyed the change of pace.
“Now he’s got his sunglasses and his Coke out,” Gibbs said of Fox News’ Major Garrett. “Margarita for Mr. Garrett, please, margarita.”
On Tuesday, Gibbs joked that a change of venue might be in the works.
“I think as the weather gets nicer we might want to move this, like class, we should move this outside,” he said.
