Vedant Patel becomes first Indian-American to hold State briefing

India-born Patel wins plaudits from White house officials for ‘utmost professionalism’ and an ‘amazing debut’

Gujarat, India-born Vedant Patel has become the first Indian-American to hold the daily State Department press briefing, earning plaudits from his former White House colleagues for his utmost professionalism.

Patel, 33, came to the State Department in June to become principal deputy spokesperson after a 17 month stint at the White House press office.

Read: Vedant Patel moves from White House to State Department (June 2, 2022)

With State Department Spokesperson Ned Price on vacation, Patel took the podium at the State Department briefing room at Foggy Bottom in Washington, DC, Tuesday to face the international media.

During his briefing, Patel covered topics ranging from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, negotiations around the Iranian nuclear issue and Liz Truss becoming the new British Prime Minister.

“Hosted my first Daily Press Briefing at the podium today. The Briefing is an important way we stay accountable to US citizens and helps protect our democracy. You have a right to know about the events and policies that shape your life,” he tweeted.

“Kudos to Vedant Patel on his podium debut,” tweeted Matt Hill, senior Associate Communications Director at the White House.

“Representing the United States on the world stage is a huge responsibility, and Vedant did it with the utmost professionalism and clear communication,” Hill wrote.

“It’s so great to see Vedant Patel at the podium,” tweeted Pili Tobar, former White House deputy communications director. ”Congrats my friend on an amazing debut.” she tweeted.

Former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had once described Patel as super talented.

“I often joke with him (Vedant Patel) that we give him easy assignments. We did not. It’s just because he’s super talented,” Psaki told reporters at her daily briefing in early April.

“Vedant, I’ll say about him, he’s a beautiful writer. He’s a fast writer. I don’t know if that means he could be a wire reporter,” she said. “I think he has a very promising career in government ahead of him.”

A part of the Biden Campaign, Patel served as the senior spokesperson of the Biden Inaugural. During Biden’s primary campaign, he served as the Nevada and Western Primary-States Communications Director.

Read: Meet Vedant Patel, the first Indian-American to hold US State Department’s press briefing (September 7, 2022)

Previously, he worked as Communications Director to Indian-American House member Pramila Jayapal, Western Regional Press Secretary at the Democratic National Committee, and Communications Director to Congressman Mike Honda.

Born in Gujarat, India and raised in California, Patel is a graduate of the University of California-Riverside and the University of Florida.