Goodbye beard, Carney goes clean-shaven

White House press secretary Jay Carney’s beard inspired a Twitter feed (@PressSecBeard), a New York Times fashion column and a healthy dose of Internet commentary.

But on Friday, the top White House spokesman emerged clean-shaven for his daily briefing with reporters.

{mosads}“Decided the time had come to shave. So, here I am, the old me,” Carney said.

Carney rid himself of whiskers earlier in the morning after hearing that journalists were wagering on whether the beard would last until Tuesday’s State of the Union address. He also said he was discouraged by the beard of presidential speechwriter Cody Keenan — “a daily reminder of the insufficiency of my efforts.”

The move could leave the press secretary out of favor with his favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox. After Carney debuted the beard following his winter vacation, the Red Sox complimented him in a tweet on his “sick flow.” 

The Red Sox began growing beards during spring training last year, sporting them all the way to their World Series championship in October.