Former White House press secretary Josh Earnest made his start as an NBC political analyst on Monday, appearing on “Today” and MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Earnest, who served as press secretary from 2014 to 2017, was deputy press secretary and principal deputy press secretary under his two predecessors in the Obama administration, Robert Gibbs and Jay Carney.
“With his wealth of experience and insight, Josh will be a great addition to our roster of contributors and will be an asset for our two networks as we continue to cover the White House, Congress and politics beyond the Beltway,” NBC News president Noah Oppenheim said in a staff memo obtained by the Hollywood Reporter and Axios.
In his debut on “Today” Monday, Earnest said the Republican Party’s surprising failure to replace Obamacare with its own legislation was the result of years of rigid partisanship.
“The one unifying principle of congressional Republicans over the last 10 years has been instinctive, reflective opposition to everything related to President Obama,” he said. “That’s why it was easy for them to vote to repeal Obamacare. But when it came to replacing it; when it came to building a coalition to actually do something proactive and positive for the country, there’s no consensus in the Republican Party.”
“As long as you’re unwilling to work with Democrats to try to find some common ground, we’re going to be stuck in the mud here,” he added.
“The one unifying principal of congressional GOPs…has been instinctive, reflective opposition to everything Obama.” —Josh Earnest on TODAY pic.twitter.com/ZDlVJbl0zz
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 27, 2017
