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Karine Jean-Pierre made history as the first Black and openly gay White House press secretary — one of the most visible and scrutinized positions in American politics. Now, after stepping away from both the Biden administration and the Democratic Party, she’s speaking for herself in a new memoir, “Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House and Outside the Party Lines” (Legacy Lit).
“I use a particular moment in time to pull back the curtain and give people a taste of what it was like being in the White House,” Jean-Pierre told WTOP. “But really, the book is trying to meet the moment where we are and (ask) how do we move forward?”
In the memoir, Jean-Pierre writes candidly about her disappointment in Democratic leaders who, she said, abandoned and betrayed President Joe Biden when they pushed him out of the 2024 race. As press secretary, she had a front-row seat to that moment — and a microphone to defend him.
“I was living it, breathing it,” she recalled. “I was going to the podium, responding constantly to governors, Democratic leaders and congressional members … it was a coordinated campaign. And I thought, ‘Wow, this is how we’re treating someone who’s given fifty years to public service? Why would I want to be part of a party that destroys someone in that way?’ It really made me think … it was a devastating time not just for me, but for so many others.”
Too much loyalty or not enough?
Jean-Pierre’s book also explores the complicated dynamics between Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who Jean-Pierre once served as chief of staff during the 2020 campaign. Harris, in her own memoir, wrote that “reckless loyalty” to Biden had stifled the party. Jean-Pierre sees it differently, arguing the party failed to show sufficient support at the right time.
“In 2023, after the midterms, no one told him not to run,” she said. “In fact, (Democrats) told him to run. It was given to him to make that decision like any other incumbent. It wasn’t until after the debate that people started to say, ‘You shouldn’t have done it.’ If they wanted that conversation, the time to have it was 2023. And I think it hurt us to have done it the way that we did.”
Struggling as a ‘first’
Jean-Pierre also reflects on the challenges of being a “first,” drawing parallels between her own experiences and those of Harris as arguably the two most visible women of color in the Biden administration.
“Look, I think it’s layered,” she said. “When you’re a first, people support you to be that first, right? And they say, ‘Oh my gosh, we’re going to break this glass ceiling, we’re going to make sure you get there,’ and then they don’t support you. That’s real, and that’s the story of anybody who’s been othered, anybody who’s been a first. There’s this groundswell to get you to that position, and then you’re judged differently, held at a different standard. It’s almost as if, ‘oh, now you got it. What else do you need?’”
So, were her and Harris’ presence mere window dressing?
“I’m not necessarily saying it isn’t true. There’s a lot of truth to that,” Jean-Pierre said.
“But I will say that, you know, I did work for an administration or a president … that’s not the other people who called me into the Oval Office and wanted to hear what I had to say, who called me from time to time, like, ‘OK, what’s going on?’ I traveled with him for more than 95% of the time. But there were times I had to fight for that, not because of him, but because of others. And I write about that in the book, where I had to fight to be in the room.”
This reflection, she said, echoes Harris’ own experience: navigating expectations, breaking barriers, and striving to be fully seen in positions historically denied to Black women.
Beyond the political drama, Jean-Pierre’s memoir argues for something deeper: a reevaluation of America’s political structure.
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“The two-party system isn’t working,” Jean-Pierre said. “One party has lost their minds, and the other party feels like they’ve lost their spirit, they’ve lost their fight. Millions of people are independents. Young people are becoming more and more independent because they don’t see themselves in either party — that should send a signal.”
Despite the disillusionment — and the many sleepless nights in the waning months of the Biden presidency — Jean-Pierre still carries gratitude for her historic role.
“I grew up in a working class family,” she reflected. “There were moments I would walk through the West Wing and (see) my office right there, a stone’s throw away from the Oval Office — I would have to pinch myself.”
“Ultimately, I’ll never have any type of job like that … I really appreciate the opportunity to have had (it),” she said.
Asked what readers can expect from her book, Jean-Pierre was direct: “If you care about this country, about where we go next, and you want a road map — this is the book for you.”
Jean-Pierre will appear at D.C.’s Politics and Prose on Nov. 4, and at Mahogany Books at National Harbor on Nov. 8.
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