English subtitles for clip: File:President Obama Announces Josh Earnest Will Replace Jay Carney.webm

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The President: You haven't
seen me enough today.

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One of Jay's favorite
lines is, "I have

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no personnel announcements
at this time."

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But I do.

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And it's bittersweet.

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It involves one of my closest
friends here in Washington.

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In April, Jay came to me in the
Oval Office and said he was

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thinking about moving on
and I was not thrilled,

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to say the least.

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But Jay has had to wrestle
with this decision

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for quite some time.

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He has been on my team since
day one -- for two years with

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the Vice President, and for the
past three and a half years

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as my Press Secretary.

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And it has obviously placed a
strain on Claire, his wife,

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and his two wonderful
kids, Hugo and Della.

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Della's little league
team, by the way,

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I had a chance to see the other
day, and she's a fine pitcher.

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But he wasn't seeing
enough of the games.

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Jay was a reporter for 21
years before coming

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to the White House, including a
stint as Moscow Bureau Chief

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for Time Magazine during the
collapse of the Soviet Empire.

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So he comes to this place
with a reporter's perspective.

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That's why, believe it or not,
I actually think he will miss

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hanging out with all of
you, including the guys

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in the front row.

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(laughter)

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Audience Member: Third row.

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Third row.

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(laughter)

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The President: But Jay has
become one of my closest

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friends, and is a great Press
Secretary and a great advisor.

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He's got good judgment.

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He has a good temperament.

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And he's got a good heart.

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And I'm going to miss him a lot.

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I will continue to rely on him
as a friend and advisor after

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he leaves to spend as much
of the summer as he can with

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his kids before he decides
what's next for him.

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Whatever it is, I know he's
going to be outstanding at it.

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Of course, that meant I
had to make a decision,

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which is who succeeds Jay.

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And we've got enormous
talent around here,

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but I've decided that we're
going to put in this slot

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somebody who is also
a friend and advisor.

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So today, the flak jacket is
officially passed to a new

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generation -- Mr. Josh Earnest.

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(applause)

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Josh is a coach's son
from Kansas City.

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He still roots for
the Royals, I guess.

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(laughter)

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As you know, his name
describes his demeanor --

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Josh is an earnest guy, and you can't
find just a nicer individual

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even outside of Washington.

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The country, of course, knows
him for his golden voice

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and dulcet tones on West Wing Week,
the biggest viral Internet hit

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since "Between Two Ferns."

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(laughter)

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But Josh and I have an
incredible history going

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all the way back to
the Iowa caucuses.

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Josh was my Iowa
communications director.

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And even when he
was in that role,

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you'd find him spending an
extra hour or two helping

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young staffers make phone
calls or knock on doors.

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There was no task
that was too small,

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no detail too unimportant
for Josh to attend to.

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At the White House, he's been
a mentor to many of the young

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people here who I know are
thrilled for him today.

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He is of sound judgment
and great temperament.

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He is honest and
full of integrity.

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And I'm sure you will at
some point get frustrated

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with him as well --

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(laughter)

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-- but it's going to be hard,

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because he's a straight
shooter and a great guy.

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So my request is that, be nice
to Jay on his farewell tour,

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and be nice to Josh
during his initiation,

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which I'm sure will last maybe
two days -- or perhaps

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two questions.

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(laughter)

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So we're going to let him
hang around a little bit

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to milk it for all it's worth.

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(laughter)

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All right?

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Thank you, guys.