Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave Americans a behind-the-scenes look when she spoke Vanity Fair piece published on Tuesday.
Jean-Pierre, who chose to keep his personal life private while serving in the Biden-Harris administration, revealed a health battle that took a toll on him and his family.
Jean-Pierre remembered to the Bidens' first state dinner in December 2022, saying “this is the first time presidents have felt that a dinner is safe to host them since the pandemic began.” That evening Jean-Pierre was accompanied by his mother, who told him that it was “the happiest day of my life.”
The state dinner was the last time Jean-Pierre “recognized my mother as the woman I grew up with.” Unfortunately, things changed, and a few months later, her mother was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer. Jean-Pierre found out that his mother was ill while visiting Poland with former President Joe Biden.
“My mother has always been a private person. When she finally came to terms with the truth, she said to me: 'Don't tell anyone. Don't tell the president that I and cancer,” the former press secretary wrote.
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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 “one of the few at the White House” who knew about what Jean-Pierre's mother was going through. Jean-Pierre said Biden “showed me up” during a difficult time.
Caring for his mother and siblings, Jean-Pierre drove to New York “every weekend I could see my mother,” but returned at night to catch “a few hours of sleep” before heading to the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a press conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 9, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Although he served in a public-facing position in the Biden-Harris administration with his “second full-time job” coordinating care for his mother, Jean-Pierre explained that being “an independent person” is one of the reasons why he didn't do that. announce his mother's battle with cancer. The former press secretary said he was also working under the “pressure” of being “first”.
“I'm the first Black writer. The first writer of color. The first openly queer writer. The first Haitian American writer. The first writer to be everything. the above. Being the first meant that the responsibility was beyond the job description, an even heavier burden for the community I represent,” Jean-Pierre wrote.
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Jean-Pierre also stated that he believed that sharing his mother's death would be considered “a place of independence” because “society does not allow women of color to be vulnerable in the workplace. When you and the first, you don't get to ignore what might be true.”
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 worst moments, Jean-Pierre accused the media and others of making “cheap lies” that made Biden “appear very weak or mentally disturbed.” When the American people were questioning whether the president was capable of carrying out the duties of his office, Jean-Pierre gaslighted them by pointing it out to “false news” and “disinformation”. .
After Biden spoke out against Georgia's voting laws, calling them “Jim Crow 2.0,” Jean-Pierre raised eyebrows with his claim that “many people and voter suppression could happen in a one.”
Jean-Pierre was also tasked with going back and forth to deny the president a pardon for his son, Hunter Biden. As soon as the president granted his son's pardon, despite having promised several times not to do so, Jean-Pierre explained the pivot by saying “the circumstances have changed.” He also blamed then-elect Trump, saying the president was trying to protect his son from Republican “revolution.”
In May 2022, Jean-Pierre replaced his predecessor Jen Psaki, who served as Biden's press secretary for about a year and a half. Handing over the reins to Jean-Pierre, Psaki called his successor “an amazing person” before listing his qualifications for the position.