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White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday that the Obama administration "should have sent someone with a higher profile" to Sunday's massive anti-terrorism rally in Paris. VPC
French President Francois Hollande, left, and other world leaders at Paris march.(Photo: Philippe Wojazer, Pool/European Pressphoto Agency)
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration "should have sent someone with a higher profile" to Sunday's massive anti-terrorism rally in Paris, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday.
That omission, however, in no way diminishes the support and help the United States has given France since the terrorist attacks of a week ago, Earnest said.
"There is no doubt that the American people and this administration stand foursquare behind our allies in France as they face down this threat," he said.
More than 3.7 million people — including 40 world leaders — participated in Sunday's rally to express solidarity in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in France.
It was a "remarkable display of unity by the French people," Earnest said, but no top-tier U.S. official was there.
Obama himself would have liked to have attended under different circumstances, Earnest said, but security proved to be an "onerous and significant" factor.
The infrastructure needed to protect the president might have prevented some average French people from attending the event, Earnest said. Security for most presidential trips takes months.
The administration did not know about the rally until Friday, Earnest added: "We're talking about a march that came together with essentially 36 hours notice and a march that occurred outdoors with an obviously very large number of people who participated."
Obama has spoken on the phone with French President Francois Hollande, and U.S. counter-terrorism officials are working with their French counterparts, Earnest said.
The U.S. ambassador to France, Jane Hartley, did attend Sunday's rally.
Earnest declined to discuss the details of whether the administration considered sending Obama, Vice President Biden, or some other high-level official to the march.
"We want to send a clear message, even in a symbolic context like this one, that the American people stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our allies in France," Earnest said. "And sending a high-level, highly visible senior administration official with a high profile to that march would have done that."
The French government has not been critical of Obama's absence.
Gerard Araud, the French ambassador to the United States, told MSNBC that his country appreciates the U.S. support, citing Obama's statements and his recent visit to the French embassy in Washington, D.C., to sign a condolence book. "From the French side," he said, there are "no hard feelings."
Secretary of State John Kerry, while describing the criticism as "quibbling," told reporters he would visit Paris later this week.
The administration's absence drew catcalls from some Republicans, including those who may be running for president.
"Our president should have been there, because we must never hesitate to stand with our allies," wrote Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in an op-ed column for Time magazine. "We should never hesitate to speak the truth. In Paris or anywhere else in the world."
Kerry, who has been in India helping prepare for President Obama's visit to that country later this month, told reporters he "would've personally very much wanted to have been" at the rally in Paris, but had diplomatic commitments in India.
"But that is why I am going there on the way home, to make it crystal clear how passionately we feel about the events that have taken place there," Kerry said. He is expected to be in France on Friday.
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The Obama administration is receiving some sharp criticism for not sending a senior official to Sunday's rally for unity in Paris that more than 40 other world leaders attended. But Secretary of State John Kerry said he'll travel to Paris Thursday. VPC
Asked about the absence of high-ranking U.S. officials, Kerry said, "this is sort of quibbling a little bit," and he noted that "our ambassador was there and marched, many people from the embassy were there and marched."
Kerry also said that the United States has been providing intelligence and law enforcement help to the French since the attacks.
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