Josh Earnest: This is a president who has been animated even before he...

The thing that I try to remember is that in the briefing room it's not a debate. I'm not supposed to go in there and win a debate with the press corps. If that's what I try to do, then I'm going to lose.

Josh Earnest

winning trying rooms

The United States played the role of encouraging both sides to come together to try to finally resolve this issue, and we were pleased to see leaders on both sides work courageously to get that done.

Josh Earnest

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have a lot of respect for the responsibility that journalists have to ask tough questions, to hold the administration accountable and to be advocates for the citizens of the United States.

Josh Earnest

tough-questions citizens responsibility

The biggest challenge of being the press secretary is trying to be aware of all of the things that are happening, both around the world but also here at home and in politics, and trying to absorb all of that information as quickly as I can.

Josh Earnest

challenges home trying

Even now, hearing the debates about Medicaid, the suggestion that somehow we could save money by cutting Medicaid strikes a chord in me personally. It seems there are some other ways we can save money rather than making it harder for people like my aunt to get health care.

Josh Earnest

aunt cutting people

We have marched in lockstep with Israel. We've been side by side with them as they've confronted the Iranian nuclear threat and we'll continue to be. All options do remain on the table. That's something that we've said all along. That continues to be the case.

Josh Earnest

israel tables sides

Reporters are always supposed to be demanding more access and more transparency. So the day that there isn't some friction between the White House press corps and the White House is the day that somebody in the press corps is not doing their job.

Josh Earnest

white house jobs

My mom's younger sister was born with Down syndrome. I was close to my grandmother when I was growing up. I remember talking to my grandmother about politics, and she told me that she regularly voted for the Democrats because she knew that they were going to look out for people like her daughter. That made an impression on me, too.

Josh Earnest

growing-up daughter mom

We have raised significant concerns about the way that China and individuals acting on behalf of the state of China have acted in cyberspace.

Josh Earnest

cyberspace acting way

There was always this sense, even early on in the campaign, that if the senator Obama could score this upset victory in Iowa, that there was a pretty good chance that he would end up being president of the United States.

Josh Earnest

upset iowa victory

I believe that that responsibility that reporters have is worthy of me showing them respect, and that's what I try to do on a regular basis, and I have been pleased that most reporters have reciprocated and shown me respect as well.

Josh Earnest

responsibility trying believe

When the president offered me this job, he told me that if there were situations in which I needed to speak to him or I needed his advice or I needed to ask him a question, that I could go into the Oval Office and I could ask him.

Josh Earnest

office advice jobs

There are a lot of people who are eager to assign blame. I think we're [USA] eager to try and find some solutions. One thing that would help would be comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

Josh Earnest

usa people thinking

The President and first lady did hold a private party at the White House over the weekend, but given the private nature of that event, I don't have a lot of details to discuss from here.

Josh Earnest

weekend party nature

We would welcome that, but it's going to require a commitment on the part of the North Koreans to denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula and pursuing a stable relationship with their neighbors. Instead, we've seen a lot of provocations and a flouting of international norms and obligations.

Josh Earnest

korean welcome commitment

My mom and my grandmother definitely were (Democrat supporters). It wasn't a sense that, "Well, we vote for Democrats no matter what," but it was sort of the sense that, "Democrats are typically the ones that are looking out for working people like us."

Josh Earnest

grandmother mom people

My start in politics was watching my parents go to the polls on election day. It reminded me that being an active, engaged citizen and voter is critical to the success of our democracy.

Josh Earnest

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I obviously wanted to play for the Kansas City Royals. (Laughter) I also knew that was far-fetched. The truth is I don't really know what I wanted to do.

Josh Earnest

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I still remember vividly watching television coverage of the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 1992 (when he was 17) when Bill Clinton got the nomination. That was certainly a part of my growing interest in politics.

Josh Earnest

growing summer television

The most frequent way that I will communicate with him Obamacis when we're traveling. We talk about what's in the news, and I hear him talking about issues that are important to him.

Josh Earnest

issues important talking

This is a president who has been animated even before he started running for public office by the idea that we need to fight for social and economic justice both in this country and around the world, this has been a hallmark of Pope Francis even before he arrived in the Vatican.