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Heard on the Hill: Mitch Mix-Up Sidetracks Press Briefing

Tuesday’s White House press briefing was full of so many fun bits, so here’s another one.

Before White House press secretary Jay Carney took questions on the “gang of many numbers,” he said he had a brief readout for the press corps.

“Last night, the president called Senate Majority Leader [Harry] Reid [D-Nev.], Speaker [John] Boehner [R-Ohio], Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mitchell and House Minority Leader [Nancy] Pelosi [D-Calif.] to discuss progress we are making,” he said.

Oops! Wrong McSomeone, Mr. Carney.

“Mitch McConnell, sorry,” he quickly corrected himself on the Kentucky Republican’s name.

“Who exactly is Mitch Mitchell?” you ask. Someone who’s not Senate Minority Leader. But a better question would be how many musical Mitch Mitchells can Carney name quickly?

“[I]n addition to being a great drummer for Jimi Hendrix, [Mitch Mitchell] is also a guitarist in Guided by Voices, a different — a different Mitch Mitchell,” Carney explained.

Then the press briefing captain tried to get everyone back on track.

“Yeah. It just — it just — it just — let’s motor on here,” he said.

The troops weren’t done though. They wanted to know whether the president was a fan of Guided by Voices.

“I’m working on him,” Carney replied.

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