Jay Carney

James Ferguson "Jay" Carney (born May 22, 1965) is an American public relations officer and former journalist who served as the 28th White House press secretary from 2011 to 2014. He worked as Amazon's senior vice president of global corporate affairs from 2015 to 2022. Since 2022, he has been Global Head of Policy and Communications at Airbnb.

As President Obama's chief spokesman for over three years, he remains the longest-serving White House press secretary of the 21st century. During the first two years of the Obama administration, Carney was director of communications for then-Vice President Joe Biden.

Prior to his government service, Carney worked for 20 years at Time Magazine, and was the magazine's Washington bureau chief from 2005 to 2008. As a Washington-based reporter, Carney appeared frequently on various political talk shows, including This Week with George Stephanopoulos for ABC News.

Early life and education Jay Carney was born James Ferguson Carney. Raised in Northern Virginia, Carney attended high school at the Lawrenceville School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey,

White House Press Secretary

On December 15, 2008, Carney left the private sector to take a position as director of communications to Vice President-elect Joe Biden.

CNN commentator Following his stint as press secretary, Carney worked as a CNN senior political analyst, from September 2014 to February 2015.

Amazon On March 2, 2015, Carney began working for Amazon as the senior vice president of global corporate affairs. He initially managed a lobbying and public-policy group of about two dozen employees; by 2021, that had increased to about 250 employees. Between 2014 and 2020, the number of registered lobbyists for Amazon tripled, to at least 180. He visited China in 2018 to promote Kindle devices and electronic books in the Chinese market.

Controversial statements Twice during the month of October 2019, Carney had to walk back controversial public comments. The first was when he contrasted the Bush and Clinton administrations with the Trump administration. Carney said, "Virtually with no exception, everyone I dealt with in those administrations, whether I personally agreed or disagreed with what they thought were the right policy decisions or the right way to approach things, I never doubted that they were patriots,” he said. “I don’t feel that way now." He later walked back the comments with a tweet saying he had respect for countless patriots working in the United States government.

During the sixth game of the 2019 World Series, Carney sent out a tweet complaining about the officiating of the game. Carney tweeted that the officiating was a "disgrace," dubbing the umpires "a bunch of overweight, diabetic, half-blind geriatrics." He apologized the following day.

Joining Airbnb In July 2022, it was announced that Carney was joining Airbnb as Global Head of Policy and Communications.

Awards In 2003, Carney won the Gerald R. Ford prize for distinguished reporting on the presidency of the United States of America.

Personal life Carney has two children with his former wife, Claire Shipman, who is now engaged to former pro soccer star and coach Kati Jo Spisak. Carney serves on the board of directors of the Urban Institute, Human Rights First, Airbnb.org and Tech:NYC. He is also a devoted fan of the indie rock band Guided by Voices.