The Hill News

New White House press secretary Jay Carney has yet to hold a formal press briefing, but one of his colleagues says he is certainly ready to do so. 

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer took to Twitter on Tuesday to respond to speculation that President Obama scheduled a morning press conference in part to shield Carney from the media.

ABC News's Rick Klein tweeted:

President Obama to hold news conference at 11 am ET; that gives Jay Carney another day to get ready for 1st on-cam briefing

And Pfeiffer replied: 

@rickklein We would do a lot of things to help Carney, but scheduling a presidential press conference would be a bridge too far. Jay = ready    

But Klein remained unconvinced: 

@pfeiffer44 you already let him start the job when there's nothing going on, foreign or domestic. I'm a skeptic.

Carney, who formerly served as Vice President Biden's spokesman, began his new job on Monday. He replaced Robert Gibbs, who worked as an Obama aide since his Senate days.