White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Partying With the Press (Video)

Jay Carney has attended a lot of these glamorous weekends.

The current White House Press Secretary, Carney spent the first part of his career in journalism, rising to the crucial post of Washington Bureau Chief for Time Magazine. Upon President Obama’s election, he joined the administration, first working for Vice President Biden as his Director of Communications, then making the jump to the front of the media’s rhetorical firing squad at the West Wing podium.

During a chat at THR and Google’s Pre-White House Correspondents’ Dinner Party, Carney discussed how the big weekend has changed for him over the years.

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“The biggest difference is when I was a reporter, I had to worry about, I worked for Time Magazine for years, I had to worry about getting guests from the administrations that we covered, whether it was Clinton or Bush, to sit at our tables,” he said, smiling, and adding, “I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Still, one might think he’d feel a bit awkward about throwing back drinks with the reporters whose job it is to hound him for information on a near-constant basis — and reporters that used to be his co-workers, no less — but he had no such concern.

“It’s great,” Carney said. “I was a journalist for more than 20 years and I have a lot of appreciation and respect for the journalists that cover the White House and who generally cover politics and Washington, so it’s all good.”

Still, he had to stay on duty in at least one way: as it was still 24 hours away, Carney kept his lips sealed when it came to what President Obama would be saying during his speech at the dinner on Saturday.