Earnest: Journalists’ work has ‘never been more important’

White House press secretary Josh Earnest is talking up the importance of the press covering the incoming Donald Trump administration.

“The role of journalists in our democracy has also never been more important,” Earnest told CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday.

Earnest said that as press secretary, he’s had the opportunity to engage in some debates with the press.

“And that’s how it should be. The White House press corps has a responsibility to hold people in power accountable and to ask tough questions,” he said.

{mosads}”And that can be uncomfortable. Even for people who are doing the right thing for the right reasons. But it’s necessary for our democracy.”

Earnest also acknowledged he was “profoundly disappointed” by the outcome of the election.

“There’s no sugarcoating that. And I never have,” he said.

But he noted this is an opportunity for Democrats to “spend some time doing some soul searching.”

“But also to make sure that we don’t lose site of those core values and lose hope that somehow those values aren’t worth fighting for anymore,” he said.

“Those values have never been more important, and our commitment to fighting for those values has never been more important.”