Dana Perino said she sometimes used a water cup to hide an obscene gesture toward reporters while answering questions as White House press secretary under President George W. Bush.
Perino recounted the episodes in an interview with Sean Hannity, saying she kept smiling and nodding during tense exchanges while making the gesture out of reporters’ view. She described it as a private act that gave her a sense of defiance while maintaining a professional appearance.
Perino served as press secretary from 2007 to 2009. She said the story later appeared in her 2015 memoir, “And the Good News Is...,” and recalled discussing it on the radio with conservative host Rush Limbaugh.
In the interview, Perino also said she believed some reporters were trying to generate attention-grabbing moments for television. She argued that social media has increased that pressure. Those characterizations reflect Perino’s views, as presented in the interview.
The account is a retrospective anecdote about her time in the Bush administration, not a new development concerning current White House operations.
