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Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave Americans a look behind the podium in a revealing vanity fair article published on Tuesday.
Jean-Pierre, who chose to keep her personal life private while working in the Biden-Harris administration, revealed a private health battle that placed a significant burden on her and her family.
Jean-Pierre recalled He attended the Bidens’ first state dinner in December 2022 and said it was “the first time the administration felt it was safe to host a dinner since the pandemic began.” That night, Jean-Pierre was accompanied by her mother, who told her it was “the happiest day of my life.”
The state dinner was the last time Jean-Pierre “acknowledged my mother as the woman I grew up with.” Unfortunately, things changed and just a couple of months later, her mother was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer. Jean-Pierre discovered his mother was ill while visiting Poland with then-President Joe Biden.
“My mother has always been a private person. When she finally accepted reality, she told me, ‘Don’t tell anyone. Don’t tell the president that I have cancer,'” the former press secretary wrote.
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Then-White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on October 30, 2023. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden was supposedly “one of the few people in the white house“who knew what Jean-Pierre’s mother was going through. Jean-Pierre said Biden “showed up for me” during the difficult time.
While navigating his mother’s care alongside his siblings, Jean-Pierre drove to New York “every weekend I could to see my mother,” only to return late at night to sleep “a few hours” before head to the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on April 9, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Despite playing a very public role in the Biden-Harris administration with his “second full-time job” coordinating his mother’s care, Jean-Pierre explained that being a “private person” is just one of the reasons why not making public his mother’s battle with cancer. The former press secretary said she also worked under the “weight” of being a “first.”
“I am the first Black press secretary. The first person of color as a press secretary. The first openly queer press secretary. The first Haitian-American immigrant press secretary. The first press secretary to be all of the above. To be the first meant that my responsibilities go beyond those listed in the job description, the burden is heavier on the communities I represent,” Jean-Pierre wrote.
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Jean-Pierre also stated that he believed sharing his mother’s diagnosis would have been seen “as an excuse” because “society doesn’t allow women of color to be vulnerable at work. When you’re new, you don’t get the opportunity.” . benefit of the doubt.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre took over in May 2022, when Jen Psaki left for MSNBC. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)
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During his time in the White House briefing room, Jean-Pierre faced criticism for a series of embarrassing and controversial moments.
In one of his most infamous moments, Jean-Pierre accused the media and others of making “cheap fakes” that made Biden “look especially fragile or mentally confused.” While the American people were wondering whether the commander in chief was capable of carrying out the duties of his office, Jean-Pierre was misleading them by attributing it to “misinformation” and “disinformation.”
After Biden spoke out against Georgia’s election laws, calling them “Jim Crow 2.0,” Jean-Pierre raised eyebrows with his claim that “high turnout and voter suppression can take place at the same time.”
Jean-Pierre was also tasked with reversing denials that the president could pardon his son, Hunter Biden. Once the president granted a pardon to his son, despite repeatedly promising not to do so, Jean-Pierre explained the turn by saying that “circumstances have changed.” He also blamed then-President-elect Trump, saying the president was trying to protect his son from Republican “retaliation.”
In May 2022, Jean-Pierre replaced her predecessor Jen Psaki, who was Biden’s press secretary for nearly a year and a half. Handing the reins to Jean-Pierre, Psaki called her successor a “remarkable person” before listing his qualifications for the job.
