(CNN) — President Barack Obama on Wednesday issued a vocal defense of the White House press corps, insisting the reporters who covered his administration were an essential facet of a functioning democracy.
The remarks were an implicit rebuke to his successor, President-elect Donald Trump.
“We are accountable to the people who send us here. And you have done it,” Obama said. “You’re not supposed to be sycophants. You’re supposed to be skeptics.”
“Having you in this building has made this place work better,” Obama went on.
Trump’s team has floated the possibility of moving press briefings out of the West Wing, though on Wednesday, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said his first briefing on Monday would take place in the White House Briefing Room.
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