I’ve been thinking a lot about @PressSec Jen Psaki’s comments yesterday on @SpaceForceDoD..... as being a spokesperson, & the Space Force are both super relevant to my interests...and here’s where I’ve landed. Being a spox can be really hard. You are EXPECTED to have answers. 1/

Sometimes you do, and sometimes you don’t. I have BEEN there so many times when I didn’t have answers, and all those eyes were looking at me. I can’t imagine all the things you must KNOW before you approach the podium as the WH Spox....2/

And as a spox who has been on the job for high-interest organization for less than a month myself, I’m very sympathetic to Ms Psaki being expected to have all the answers from day one, and speak as if she’s been in that role for a decade. 3/

As a lot of you know, I just joined @US_SpaceCom and I do have a strong opinion about the need for the US Space Force. I also know it’s hard to be a spox. @PressSec said what she said yesterday, and then today she said something else. 4/

This weekend, I heard a lovely interview with Ms. Psaki on @NPR @waitwait and the host @petersagal asked her if she thinks about her answers after she gives them. This is what she said....5/

I can’t even tell you how much I related to her answers. Again, I heard this interview last weekend, before the whole Space Force kerfuffle....and so when I heard her remarks yesterday, I immediately thought about this interview. 6/

I will say it again, being a spox is hard. Being the WH spox is a whole different level of hard. Yesterday she said something and today, she came out and did better. I’m happy for that—not just for the support she expressed for the Space Force, which is very important to me..7/

...but also because I think she’s being true to herself and this very difficult job that we have as we represent and embody these organizations and entities that can be larger than life. We’re never going to have all the answers....8/

....but humility, authenticity and good faith are the currency of our trade, and in my experience, if a spox has all these traits, the media and the public are usually more than willing to hear the, “...what I meant to say was....” 9/

Anyway, I think this is the longest thread I’ve ever created in my Twitter history. But, I just wanted to speak up—not as a political statement, but rather in solidarity with a person who I know from experience has a very hard job. 10/

.....And I also know in the last 24 hours has gotten very smart on the mission of the U.S. Space Force. You’re welcome to come to Colorado Springs anytime, Jen, and I’d love to show you around @US_SpaceCom HQ! 11/11