White House press secretary Josh Earnest delivered a mea culpa Monday and conceded that President Obama and other White House officials agree that the president should have attended or sent a high-profile surrogate to Paris to participate in the solidarity march against terrorism Sunday.
“I think it’s fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile,” Earnest said, quickly adding that there’s no doubt that the Obama administration stands squarely behind France in its effort to stand up to extremists and that it regularly coordinates intelligence operations and shares information.
Just minutes after terrorists attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, Obama called French President Francois Hollande and pledged any needed cooperation or assistance, Earnest said.
“That kind of cooperation is the backbone behind the strong relationship with the U.S. and France … and continued over the weekend and continues now,” Earnest said.
Earnest also said the march came together with only 36 hours of notice and occurred outdoors with nearly 4 million people participating, posing a difficult challenge for the Secret Service to prepare for if Obama or Vice President Joe Biden had decided to attend.
He also said any visit by Obama or Biden places burdens on public citizens and their ability to attend major events with little restrictions.
“I’m confident that the professionals at the U.S. Secret Service could have done that, but it would have impacted common citizens,” he said
“I can tell you … had the circumstances been different, the president himself would have liked to have been there,” Earnest added.
