Allison Janney Channels Her ‘West Wing’ Character C.J. Cregg At White House Briefing

Allison Janney took the podium on Friday at the White House’s briefing with reporters, and stepped into her West Wing C.J. Cregg persona.

Allison Janney Briefs White House Reporters As ‘West Wing’ Character

White House spokesman Josh Earnest appeared to be a few minutes late for the briefing with reporters, but Janney decided to take over for those couple of minutes.

“Hi everyone, good afternoon,” Janney said, addressing the press as her West Wing character, C.J. Cregg, while the journalists in the room laughed.

Janney explained that Earnest was out undergoing a root canal — a clever shout out to C.J. Cregg’s antics on West Wing.

“But let’s be honest, I’m better at this than he is, anyway,” she joked.

The actress went on to announce that the president was working on his own jokes for the White House Correspondents Dinner and that she later would perform “The Jackal” in her office — another nod to the C.J. Cregg character.

Earnest soon arrived, surprised that Janney had taken his place.

“Hey, this is not your show anymore,” Earnest quipped.

“You’re standing at the podium, so you might as well use it,” the spokesman added, prompting Janney — who currently plays a recovering addict on CBS’ Mom — to speak on the opioid epidemic and “to celebrate all of those working to combat substance-abuse disorder.”

Janney went on to praise the White House’s Champions for Change program honorees, who have worked in substance-abuse prevention, treatment and recovery.