Robert Gibbs on flak from the left: 'No inflatable exit' from his office
(Read article summary)At Wednesday's White House briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs came prepared to field questions concerning his recent complaint about the 'professional left.'
Washington
Robert Gibbs took the podium Wednesday in the White House briefing room, two days after the presidential press secretary made intemperate comments about the “professional left” that still have the political world buzzing.
After missing Tuesday’s briefing for health reasons, Mr. Gibbs came prepared. When the subject of his remarks came up, early in the briefing, he said, “I don’t plan on leaving, and there’s no truth to the rumor that I’ve added an inflatable exit to my office.”
Gibbs was referring to the JetBlue flight attendant who got fed up with an unruly passenger and fled the plane via the emergency slide.
In a Hill newspaper interview published Monday, Gibbs had vented about the lack of appreciation on the “professional left” for President Obama’s accomplishments, including the stimulus, health-care reform, and Wall Street reform. Many liberals have been unhappy that the president didn’t seem to fight very hard, for example, for the government-run public option in health-care reform, or for a bigger stimulus package.
In an expression of how unreasonable he feels the left – i.e., Obama’s base – is being, Gibbs said: ‘They wouldn’t be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president.’”
