New chief of staff says he did not push Robert Gibbs out of White House

Bill Daley, President Obama's new chief of staff, said Friday that reports he pushed press secretary Robert Gibbs out of the White House are untrue.

A blog post in the London Telegraph, which was also linked on the Drudge Report, cited a CNN report claiming Daley did not want Gibbs to stay in the White House as a chief adviser.

But Daley said in a statement that Gibbs's name "never, ever came up once in any discussion I had with the president or staff about me coming to the White House."

"In my view, he has done a great job as press secretary for President Obama, and I look forward to working with him as he continues to help provide advice to the president and our team over the next two years," Daley said.

Gibbs announced earlier this week that he is stepping down from the podium in February, but he will continue to advise and advocate for Obama.

This post was updated at 9:30 p.m.

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