In just a few days, US President Joe Biden has become a campaign problem. Karine Jean-Pierre has the thankless task of defending her boss.
The US government has launched the next wave of military aid, as well as a new overtime regulation for workers, and something is also to be done about gasoline prices. The president is of course up to date with the Caribbean hurricane “Beryl,” and a court ruling on liquefied gas is also not nice.
It is the usual bundle of current topics, success stories and concerns that Karine Jean-Pierre bravely works through these days – only to have to talk about the elephant in the room after a few minutes: Joe Biden’s botched TV debate. His age. His performance. His future as a presidential candidate.
Her relaxed tone changes to slightly annoyed
In just a few days, the US President’s campaign has become a presidential election problem. The White House spokeswoman is not to be envied. Her tone, usually relaxed and focused, audibly changes to a slightly annoyed sing-song when the very first question in the daily press briefing comes back to Biden’s botched TV debate. His age. His performance. His future as a presidential candidate.
Jean-Pierre, 49, who has been in office for two years, then takes a deep breath, leans on the lectern and begins her remarks. With each passing day, as the discussions become more heated, they become more detailed.
Even as the nation watched their president on television in amazement as he stared into space during a debate with Donald Trump, lost his train of thought and seemed anything but a strong leader, the White House spoke of a cold that was weakening the president. Afterwards, Biden himself said how tired he had been.
And now it was Karine Jean-Pierre’s turn to explain how things had come to this. The spokeswoman mentioned various flights across various time zones in a few days, conference rounds, interviews and asked for understanding that the 81-year-old Biden had not functioned so well with this workload at an “important moment”. “I’m just giving you explanations,” she said on Wednesday. Anyone who wanted to could hear in her undertone something like agreement with all the horror at her boss and the demands that he please make room for someone else.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the second black woman in the position
Of course, none of this would ever come out of her mouth; Jean-Pierre is a consummate professional. “She brings the experience, talent and integrity required for this difficult task,” Joe Biden said of her when he appointed her his spokeswoman in spring 2022. She is only the second black woman to lead the White House journalist briefing. 30 years earlier, it was Judy Smith, who had supported then-US President George Bush senior as deputy press secretary.
Although their job is to be out in public, spokespeople rarely play a role in the non-American world. One exception was the time of Donald Trump, who forced his representatives to sell people obvious nonsense. Sean Spicer, for example, became famous for completely exaggerating the size of the audience at Trump’s inauguration. And the last press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, did not shy away from defending even the most absurd untruths of the former president with holy seriousness.
Gay and immigrant child
Because of these predecessors, it is important to Karine Jean-Pierre to emphasize “truthfulness and transparency.” “That is the way I believe the president wants to communicate with the American people,” she said a few years ago.
Jean-Pierre is also unusually open about her homosexuality – still a great exception in political Washington, even in 2024. Only very few American politicians admit to being lesbian or gay. Among them is at least one cabinet member, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
As if that didn’t already meet a few important diversity criteria, Jean-Pierre goes one step further. She is an immigrant child who made it to the top: Born on the French Caribbean island of Martinique to Haitians, she grew up in New York City and has worked for US Vice President Kamala Harris and Barack Obama.
When asked whether she had ever had doubts in her life about getting a position like the one she currently holds, she answered in the negative. “I just worked hard for it,” she once said succinctly.
Sources: DPA, “The Hill”, ThoughtCo.com, “The Guardian”, White House press briefing on YouTube
