Thursday Briefing

Social media, Egypt and clean energy top agenda in Gibbs's session with reporters. 

"I think the president looks at something like YouTube as an online town hall meeting."

On Egypt: "There’s an obligation by the government not to engage in violence. There’s an obligation by those that are protesting not to engage in violence by burning government buildings. So, first and foremost, this is a process that should be conducted peacefully, and that is one of our primary concerns.... We believe that this represents an opportunity for President Mubarak and for the government of Egypt to demonstrate its willingness to listen to its own people and to devise a way to broaden the discussion and take some necessary actions on political reform. Those are issues that the President talks with President Mubarak about every time they meet."

Does the White House believe that the Egyptian government is stable?: "Yes."

On Mubarak: "President Mubarak has for several decades been a close and important partner with our country. And every time the President meets with President Mubarak - and I would point you to the speech in Cairo in 2009 where the President also specifically addresses this, as well as the readout that we put out on the September meeting that the President had with President Mubarak as part of the Middle East peace process - that we consistently have advocated for the universal rights of assembly, of free speech, of political reform."

"This is not about taking sides."

On energy and SOTU: "Instead of picking this, this, this and this, you see in the standard that the President put forward is, yes, let’s do all of that. Let’s do wind, let’s do nuclear, let’s do solar, let’s do clean coal technology."

More on Egypt: "We very much recognize the right that those in Egypt want more freely to assemble and to speak, and to be involved in political reform. That’s a bedrock American value. And I think the government of Egypt and the President of Egypt need to find a way to ensure that this is -- this type of dialogue and these types of reforms can happen."

On US-Egyptian relationship: "We have a whole host of bilateral concerns in relationships. But that does not change our desire to see in Egypt free and fair elections, the ability to assemble, the ability to speak more freely, to be involved in a healthy democracy."