It’s a funny business being a White House aide-de-camp.
One day you are charged with carrying the president’s “nuclear football,” the sturdy briefcase carrying all the codes and information he needs to authorize a strike when he is away from the White House. The next you are dressed as the Easter Bunny.
On Friday, Lt. Col. Brandon Westling, an Air Force aide to the president, was spotted walking to Marine One carrying the 45-pound briefcase that accompanies President Joe Biden wherever he travels.
On Easter Monday, the White House said he was carrying out a rather different duty as the Easter Bunny.
“Thank you for joining us today,” Biden said on the balcony of the White House South Portico as he introduced his fluffy sidekick, kitted out with a mask as required by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. “We have a special guest you can see to my left here.”
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This year should have marked the 143rd year of the White House Easter egg roll, with some 30,000 children and parents expected. But the pandemic meant it was canceled.
Instead, the president said Easter is a reminder that “joy cometh in the morning,” and he used the message to offer hope of a new dawn as the country fights back COVID-19.
“God bless you all. May God protect our troops and protect the Easter Bunny,” he concluded.
White House Military Office Air Force aide Lt. Col. Brandon Westling was on “Football“ duty Friday for President Biden’s trip to Camp David. The ~45-lb. briefcase accompanies Biden 24/7, enabling him to authorize the use of any of our 3,800 stockpiled nuclear weapons at any time. pic.twitter.com/3IldiFLRZj
— Stephen Schwartz (@AtomicAnalyst) April 3, 2021
Westling waved for the cameras. But on Friday, he cut a lower-key figure, striding purposefully across the South Lawn of the White House with the sturdy aluminum-framed briefcase in his left hand, traveling with the president for a weekend at Camp David.
The briefcase contains launch codes, a book of retaliatory options, and the means for the president to authorize a strike.
In keeping with the administration’s commitment to equality, or equity, a female Easter Bunny appeared in the press briefing room later.
Is this what they mean when they say “other duties as assigned”?! So great to stop by @PressSec’s briefing today. Happy Easter! pic.twitter.com/NTctbV4Jaq
— Meghan Hays (@MegHays46) April 5, 2021
“We have a special guest,” said press secretary Jen Psaki as she ended her briefing, and the second bunny arrived with a basket of candy for journalists.
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This time, the suit did not contain a military officer more usually tasked with safeguarding the president’s nuclear launch capability. Instead, its occupant was Meghan Hays, White House director of message planning.
As an internet feed of the briefing was cut off, reporters were seen taking from the basket, which had been handed to another press office staffer.
