Jay Carney and David Letterman joked on Wednesday about the ways the White House press secretary can avoid answering reporters’ questions.
Carney left his post as the White House press secretary earlier this year, and appeared on «The Late Show» to discuss his experience as part of the Obama administration. Letterman presented a list of phrases that the former press secretary has used in lieu of giving a direct answer.
They included: «I’m not going to tell you,» «See yesterday’s non-response,» «Yea, but I could be making it up.» Carney laughed, but on a more serious note, he said that the best answer sometimes is simply «I don’t know,» because being wrong has serious «repercussions.»
«They could be international, domestic or political, and in today’s media climate, that could metastasize so quickly,» he remarked. Other times, he added, he simply could not comment on classified information.
Carney had some memorable clashes with White House reporters during his tenure, and he said Wednesday that he believes the relationship between the press and the White House should be «adversarial.» Watch the segment in the clip above.