White House Hid Obama's Lunch With Hillary From Reporters
Obama's public schedule did not include the meal, but word got out after a photo was posted on People Magazine's official Twitter account. The picture showed Clinton with People's Washington bureau chief, Sandra Westfall. An accompanying message referenced the lunch.
"PEOPLE's @sswestfall chats w/@HillaryClinton before her @WhiteHouse lunch. Hope she wasn't late for @barackobama!" the tweet said.
People quickly deleted the tweet. It was reposted again a little over an hour later.
A press pool report filed by Roll Call White House correspondent Steven Dennis noted an Obama administration official confirmed "the president enjoyed an informal, private lunch with Secretary Clinton at the White House this afternoon" after Dennis inquired about People's tweet. Dennis also said he complained to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney "about the lack of transparency on the meeting."
Carney did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Business Insider asking why the lunch was not initially made public and whether he felt Dennis' complaint was valid.
View People's reposted tweet below.