White House spokesman Josh Earnest tried to downplay outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s decision to skip the White House ceremony announcing Ashton Carter as President Obama’s choice to succeed him.
Usually, outgoing cabinet secretaries and top officials attend White House events in which the president nominates a replacement, and announcements about the Friday morning ceremony said Hagel would be on hand for it.
But Hagel was notably absent from the event, stirring renewed questions about the friction between Hagel and the White House about the way he was forced out of the post.
A defense official issued a statement saying Hagel decided not to come because the focus should be on Ashton Carter, the nominee to replace him, and he didn’t want to serve as a distraction.
Hagel also issued a statement calling Carter a “patriot” and dedicated public servant and strongly supporting his nomination.
Earnest pointed to these statements and said he didn’t think Hagel intended his decision to forego the event as a snub.
“I certainly don’t think that Secretary Hagel intended it that way,” he said. “And I think it’s evident from the statement that he issued in his own name today that he is very strongly supportive of the president’s decision to nominate Mr. Carter for this role.”
But Earnest didn’t deny that the White House wanted Hagel at the ceremony.
“No doubt about that,” he said in response to a reporter’s question.
He also said he wouldn’t characterize the absence as surprise because Hagel had informed him before the event that he wouldn’t be there.
“I’d characterize it as a decision that was made by Secretary Hagel,” Earnest said. “But he was very clear in the statement that he issued today that he strongly supports the president’s decision to nominate Mr. Carter to succeed him at the Department of Defense. He, like the president, believes that Mr. Carter has all the qualifications and experience that’s necessary to confront the challenges that no one knows better than Secretary Hagel himself.”
