Outgoing White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is set to leave a divisive legacy from her time in front of the press corps following years of hostile spats with reporters.
Jean-Pierre, 50, has frequently been seen shouting down journalists and descending into hostile back-and-forths since she assumed the high-profile role in May 2022.
Just weeks before election day, Jean-Pierre had perhaps her most fiery moment at the lectern, as she stormed out of the press room accusing reporters of spreading misinformation about FEMA’s response to Hurricane Helene.
It came as Jean-Pierre butted heads with Fox News‘ Peter Doocy, a frequent opponent of hers during her briefings, who often appeared to enjoy riling up the press secretary and asking her combative questions.
In keeping with the fiery nature of the Biden administration’s briefings, her final spat with Doocy came just moments after he congratulated her on her promotion to senior advisor to the president.
Outgoing White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is set to leave a divisive legacy from her time in front of the press corps – seen during a recent hostile argument over FEMA funding that ended when she stormed out of the room
Critics, who also poked fun at Jean-Pierre for her oversized ‘Guys and Dolls’ inspired outfit during the heated exchange, said the press secretary was overly aggressive with her comeback.
Doocy questioned her on rumors after the hurricane that FEMA was focusing its efforts on Democrats and conspiracies about a government land grab, which led Jean-Pierre to hit back – ‘The whole premise of your question is misinformation sir.’
‘Excuse me,’ Doocy replied.
As their argument escalated, Doocy hit back with a line that went viral: ‘You can’t call a question you don’t like misinformation.’
Jean-Pierre then turned and walked out of the briefing room, drawing backlash from critics who felt she shouldn’t be able to merely walk away from the press corps under questioning.
This week, following Donald Trump’s landslide victory in the presidential election, Jean-Pierre again clashed with one of Doocy’s Fox News colleagues, Jacqui Heinrich.
Jean-Pierre frequently butted heads with Fox News’ Peter Doocy (center), who often appeared to enjoy riling up the press secretary and asking her combative questions
Jean-Pierre snapped at reporters when asked to explain why Biden gave a calm and upbeat message of hope to Americans after warning them for months that democracy would be in peril if Trump won.
It came after Biden promised ‘to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition’ to Donald Trump over the next two months. He was cheerful and couldn’t hide his smile.
But when asked to square that shift, Jean-Pierre became flustered, biting back at reporters she accused of ‘twisting her words’.
She tried to explain that Biden simply ‘respected’ the election result – with the veiled allusion to Trump’s refusal to accept he lost in 2020.
Jean-Pierre grew more frustrated when asked what Americans who were afraid of what Trump would do, based on Biden and Kamala Harris’ warnings, should think about the president’s change in tone.
‘Well, now you’re just twisting everything around, and that’s really unfair… because I’ve been standing here trying to be very respectful to what happened… two nights ago,’ she said.
Jean-Pierre then lost her cool and accused sections of the press of twisting her words, before abruptly ending the Q&A.
Jean-Pierre, 50, has frequently been seen shouting down journalists and descending into hostile back-and-forths since she assumed the high-profile role in May 2022
Back in September, Jean-Pierre again had a memorable squabble with Doocy, this time on the issue of whether her constant reference to Donald Trump as a ‘threat’ to Democracy was fueling violence.
Doocy asked Jean-Pierre ‘how many more assassination attempts’ it would take before she picked a ‘different word’ to describe the former president – just days after a man with a firearm was spotted on Trump’s golf course, the second attempt on his life in two months.
‘It’s been only two days since somebody allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump again, and you’re here at the podium in the White House briefing room calling him a “threat,”‘ Doocy said.
‘I actually completely disagree with the premise of your question,’ Jean-Pierre fired back.
‘The question that you’re asking, it is also incredibly dangerous in the way that you’re asking it, because the American people are watching and to say that, to say that [about] an administration that has consistently condemned political violence.’
She went on to outline the various times the Democrats have spoken out against political violence, including January 6th, the attack on Paul Pelosi and the two assassination attempts against Trump.
Jean-Pierre’s role as White House press secretary meant she often found herself defending Kamala Harris’ doomed presidential candidacy in recent months.
In one clash in September, Jean-Pierre was asked about Harris’ adaptable accents depending on what crowds she was in front of, with Doocy questioning an apparent ‘southern’ accent she used on the trail.
‘Do you think Americans seriously think this is an important question? You know what they care about?’ she snapped back.
‘They care about the economy, they care about lowering costs, they care about health care, that’s what Americans care about.’
‘I’m not even going to entertain some question about — hearing it sounds so ridiculous.’
Although Doocy and other conservative figures were often the target of Jean-Pierre’s comebacks, she raised eyebrows back in August when she unleashed on Democrat congresswoman Cori Bush.
Days before, Bush had issued an angry tirade after losing the primary for her seat in congress, and blamed her defeat on pro-Israel group AIPAC after the powerful pro-Israel lobby spent heavily against her, pouring $9 million into her race.
‘The President has always been very clear and very recently after the assassination attempt of the last president about lowering rhetoric – lowering the rhetoric and the importance of doing that,’ Jean-Pierre told DailyMail.com hours after Bush became the second Democratic ‘squad’ member to be voted out of office.
‘It is important that we be very mindful of what we say. This kind of rhetoric is inflammatory, and divisive and incredibly unhelpful,’ she continued.
‘And we’re going to condemn any type of political rhetoric in that way, in that vein, and so it is important to be mindful in what we say and how we say it. But we cannot have this type of inflammatory and divisive language in our political discourse.’
While Jean-Pierre’s wrath was usually targeted at conservative opponents, she notably slammed former congresswoman Cori Bush (pictured) in August over a scathing rant the rep issued after losing her seat in congress
In yet another tit-for-tat with Doocy soon after she took the helm in September 2022, Jean-Pierre slammed the correspondent when asked if she believes Donald Trump stole the 2016 election.
Doocy was pressing Jean-Pierre amid GOP-led outrage over President Joe Biden’s repeat attacks against ‘MAGA Republicans’ at the time, the pro-Donald Trump faction of the party who believe the ex-president’s lies that the 2020 race was stolen from him.
Doocy began the exchange asking, ‘So we’re all in agreement that it is incorrect to say the 2020 election was stolen, what about the 2016 election?’
Jean-Pierre branded her counterpart ‘ridiculous’ as he brought up that she herself tweeted about a stolen election in December 2016.
She cut across Doocy’s interruptions, telling him: ‘Well you’re asking me a question, let me answer it.’
‘I was talking specifically at the time of what was happening with voting rights, and the – what was in danger of voting rights. That’s what I was speaking to at the time,’ Jean-Pierre said.
Their argument ended as she referenced the January 6 attack on the US Capitol as a sign of today’s higher stakes, saying: ‘That was the danger that we were seeing at the time. That’s what the president has called out, and that’s what he’s going to continue to call it out.’
Throughout her tenure, Jean-Pierre’s role has mostly surrounded combating claims about policies and official government actions. But sometimes, she was faced with more unorthodox spinning challenges.
Back in April, President Biden bizarrely suggested his uncle may have been eaten by other humans in Papua New Guinea during World War Two.
Asked for details to back up the odd claim by Doocy, Jean-Pierre barked back that he ‘should not make jokes about it.’
Doocy had asked the press secretary why Biden said his uncle’s plane had been ‘shot down’ – when Pentagon documents said it suffered engine failure – and also why the president contended the servicemember had been eaten.
‘That’s a bad way to go,’ Doocy commented, cuing Jean-Pierre’s annoyance.
‘We should not make jokes about it,’ Jean-Pierre sassed at Doocy. ‘Your last line is for a laugh, is for a funny statement. And he takes this very seriously. His uncle who served and protected his country lost his life and that should matter.’
Jean-Pierre’s role as White House press secretary meant she often found herself defending Kamala Harris’ doomed presidential candidacy in recent months. Pictured: Jean-Pierre and Harris in 2019
One of Jean-Pierre’s toughest moments of the year came when she was not in front of the White House press corps, but during an interview with a North Carolina radio show.
She abruptly ended the interview and hung up the phone when asked about inflation, moments after lobbing an ‘incredibly offensive’ question about whether President Biden has dementia.
Speaking to Mark Garrison of Charlotte AM radio station WBT back in March, she responded to the dementia question: ‘I can’t even believe you’re asking me this question. That is incredibly offensive question to ask… no, no, no – you’re taking us down this rabbit hole. Let me be very clear about this.
‘This is a president, if you watch him every day if you really pay attention to his record, what he has done, you will see exactly how focused he has been on the American people.’
When then asked about sky-high inflation crippling Biden’s economy, Jean-Pierre answered that Biden ‘gets it’ because he ‘grew up in a middle class family’, and said the nation was ‘in a different place than we were a year ago on gas prices, on eggs, milk and seafood products.’
Then she abruptly ended the call. ‘Thank you so much, Mark, have an amazing, amazing day’, she said – followed by a loud dial tone as she ended the call in the clip that aired.
‘Wow – she hung up,’ said Garrison.
And after cocaine was found in the White House in July 2023, Jean-Pierre snapped at a reporter who had asked her to say ‘once and for all’ that the cocaine found at the White House did not belong to a Biden family member.
Instead of giving a straight yes or no answer, she left the door cracked – instead calling the asking of the question ‘incredibly irresponsible.’
Jean-Pierre argued the question had been answered because she had told the press that the Biden family was at Camp David when the cocaine discovery was made.
‘You know, there has been some irresponsible reporting about the family and so I’ve got to call that out here,’ the press secretary said. ‘And I have been very clear.’
