Karine Jean-Pierre‘s book tour has garnered a slew of negative attention, and now the New York Times has joined the bandwagon of critics.
Joe Biden‘s former White House secretary dropped her book ‘Independent – A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines’ on October 21, giving the world a glimpse into her time beyond the briefing room and why she left the Democratic Party.
But a recent and disastrous book tour Q&A with the New Yorker immediately drew criticism toward Jean-Pierre, who, in her new work, revealed she became an independent in June.
During the interview, published Monday, journalist Isaac Chotiner stopped Jean-Pierre for clarification several times for her rambling, word-salad responses that failed to explain why she believed Democrats ‘betrayed’ the former president.
And now, the New York Times, a left-leaning outlet, has taken a sharp jab at the first black and openly gay White House press secretary for her jumbled and confusing responses.
The outlet published an article on Wednesday, titled ‘Karine Jean-Pierre and a Book Tour Most Authors Would Not Dream Of,’ bashing her for being ‘erratic and defensive rather than a forceful champion of her old boss.’
The article even went as far as to critique her in reference to her former role, seemingly implying she was not good at her job, and it’s showing more than ever right now.
‘White House press secretaries are supposed to know how to talk to the press. But that has not been evident this week for Karine Jean-Pierre, whose publicity tour for “Independent,” her book about her time behind the briefing room lectern of the Biden White House, has gone viral, and not in a good way,’ New York Times journalist Elisabeth Bumiller wrote.
Karine Jean-Pierre’s book tour has sparked major criticism against the former White House press secretary (pictured October 20)
The New York Times even published an article on Wednesday, giving a blistering rundown of her book and her book tour
The outlet almost immediately turned toward Jean-Pierre’s interview with Chotiner, stating that Republicans ‘termed it embarrassing and incoherent’ and also left many ‘perplexed.’
When questioned why Biden left the 2024 presidential race, she described it as a ‘very layered’ situation before giving a lengthy answer.
‘There’s more to this than just that period of time. This is very layered, right? There’s a period of time that I questioned what was happening and how do we treat our own, how do we treat people who are decent people?
‘And then you also have to think about how I’m thinking about this as a Black woman who is part of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, and living in this time where I also don’t think Democrats right now, Democrats’ leadership, is protecting vulnerable people in the way that it should,’ she told Chotiner.
The journalist then replied: ‘Sorry, I’m not trying to be dense. I’m a little unclear about what this has to do with Democratic leaders and many Democrats in the country thinking that Joe Biden was going to lose to Donald Trump.’
The New York Times then highlighted a part of her book when Jean-Pierre said it was an ‘insult’ to Kamala Harris that people didn’t want her to be the Democratic presidential nominee. She also wrote that ‘the truth was, I never really believed Harris could win.’
When asked about those seemingly contradicting statements by Chotiner, Jean-Pierre told him: ‘But two things could be true, right? The thing I say the second time actually proves the thing that I said the first time, right?’
The article also mentioned how during her time in the White House Jean-Pierre ‘often shared the podium with John F. Kirby’, a retired Navy admiral who formally worked at the State Department and Pentagon.
New York Times journalist Elisabeth Bumiller (pictured) wrote the scathing article about Jean-Pierre
During an interview with New Yorker journalist Isaac Chotiner Jean-Pierre (pictured with Biden in October 2024) gave rambling, word-salad responses that failed to explain why she believed Democrats ‘betrayed’ the former president
He joined Biden’s press secretary at the podium frequently after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, per the New York Times.
‘Mr. Kirby was far more comfortable and better versed in foreign affairs than Ms. Jean-Pierre, who resented the intrusion,’ the outlet said.
The journalist went on to back that up with what she said in her new book.
‘In her book, she writes that an unnamed White House official — widely considered to be Anita Dunn — tried to push her aside, and that she wanted an unnamed man who had experience in war-torn regions — presumably Mr. Kirby — to go on a trip to Israel in her place.’
When approached by the New York Times for comment, Jean-Pierre’s publicists said she was not available for an interview, but went on to issue a statement on her behalf.
‘The focus of my book, ‘Independent,’ is to start a conversation about how we move forward as a country, how we preserve our democracy and fix a broken system that if not attended to will lead us into what some are already calling an authoritarian regime,’ it read.
Chotiner told the outlet he would not speak on the substance of the interview he did with her, but did give insight into their overall interaction.
‘It wasn’t a tense interview to conduct. And she seemed very nice,’ Chotiner said.
In her book, which hit shelves on October 21, Jean-Pierre revealed she became an Independent in June
During her chat with Chotiner, Jean-Pierre made references to black women 10 times and her LGBTQ status twice.
She claimed that both Biden and Harris suffered prejudice from voters and within their own parties, saying ‘I wish you could walk in my body and live my life’ when pressed about her thoughts on Harris’ chance to become president.
Elsewhere in the interview, Jean-Pierre panned her former party for what she described as poor treatment of ‘decent’ and ‘vulnerable people.’
‘And then you also have to think about how I’m thinking about this as a Black woman who is part of the LGBTQ community, and living in this time where I also don’t think Democrats right now, Democrats’ leadership, is protecting vulnerable people in the way that it should,’ she said.
At another point in the exchange, Jean-Pierre wildly claimed that the subtitle of her book, ‘A Look Inside a Broken White House,’ had actually been a reference to the Trump administration rather than Biden’s.
When asked to confirm that she had ‘no concern’ that Biden could serve a second term, Jean-Pierre maintained that she never witnessed anything from him that would make her think otherwise.
‘But you watched TV like the rest of us, right?’ Chotiner asked.
The New York Times article also mentioned how during her time in the White House Jean-Pierre ‘often shared the podium with John F. Kirby (pictured in April 2024).’ The outlet said he was ‘far more comfortable and better versed in foreign affairs’ than her
Jean-Pierre acknowledged the president ‘was aging,’ but said he was still ‘engaged, on top of policy, [and] challenging his staff.’
She spoke similarly of Biden’s declining health in an interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings last week.
King, who appeared skeptical of Jean-Pierre stating she didn’t see the former president’s decline, told her: ‘You even write, Karine, that you were on the plane with him going to the debate, and you didn’t see anything.’
King was referring to Biden’s mangled debate with Donald Trump in June 2024 that happened just before he withdrew from the race and passed the baton to Harris.
Jean-Pierre then told King she didn’t see Biden on the flight, adding: ‘With age comes what happens when you get older.
‘I never saw anyone who wasn’t there. I saw someone who was always engaged.’
