White House Social Secretary joked about regularly allowing gate-crashers

Washington, Dec. 6 (ANI): White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, whose office has come under fire for the gate-crashing episode, once joked about regularly allowing party crashers at White House events.

Rogers, who has a reputation of a consummate perfectionist, has come under scrutiny for her office's lax, which resulted in the infamous gate-crashing incident at President Obama's first state dinner in honour of Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Months before reality TV wannabes crashed Obama's party, Rogers had jokingly said that she had added extra tables and benches at every event to accommodate uninvited people, Fox News reports.

"Lots of people just come anyways. They won't take no for an answer. Finally, I just said, 'All right, come on in. It's no use kicking you out," she said in a June interview with trade magazine BizBash.

An administration official told clarified that Rogers "was clearly making a tongue-in-cheek comment about White House staff, already cleared to be on the complex" and not referring to the general public.

Rogers arrived in Washington with more of a splash than any White House social secretary before her because she had obvious style, wealth, a Harvard MBA, years of corporate experience, and friends at the top, most importantly Barack and Michelle Obama.

But the turn of events is bewildering to Rogers' friends and associates, who say she's being misunderstood and unfairly targeted, and her accomplishments ignored.

"It's extraordinary to see someone's life's work mischaracterized in this way. I just don't understand it. She's working 12-15 hours a day, just trying to do a great job. Desiree has brought excellence to everything she's done in her life," says John W. Rogers Jr., Desiree's former husband. (ANI)