In his White House briefing Friday, press secretary Josh Earnest struggled to tell the White House Press Corps what newly-appointed “Ebola Czar” Ron Klain even knows about the lethal virus that has America worried.
After fielding a question from CNN White House Correspondent Jim Acosta wondering about Klain’s knowledge of Ebola, Earnest spent roughly two minutes beating around the bush explaining Klain’s bonafides, much of which had nothing to do with Ebola, and about his other experience, particularly while managing the stimulus package of 2009.
“What does Ron Klain know about Ebola?” questioned Acosta.
“Let’s talk about…let me re-state why this person…why the president believes it was important to add this person to his team,” Earnest began in his response. “The president wanted somebody who could serve in a coordinating function, to manage our implementation of our whole of government approach to this Ebola situation.”
“To more directly address your question, what we were looking for was not an Ebola expert, but rather an implementation expert, and that’s exactly what Ron Klain is,” Earnest said.
Earnest went on to list Klain’s credentials for the job, including experience in the private sector and within the White House, where Earnest lauded his time managing the Stimulus package in 2009, noting his performance included “unprecedented transparency.”