Some Democrats have been expressing exasperation over former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s book tour, Politico reported on Wednesday.
Jean-Pierre, who served as White House press secretary during former President Joe Biden’s administration, has been on a media blitz to promote her new memoir, “Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,” which covers certain events that led to her deciding to abandon the Democratic Party. Some former Biden White House staffers have been privately texting each other, questioning why Jean-Pierre has seemingly been struggling to discuss her own memoir more clearly, according to Politico.
Jean-Pierre could not immediately be reached for comment.
One anonymous longtime Democratic communications strategist compared Jean-Pierre’s book tour with a “car crash.”
“A car crash is fascinating to watch,” the Democratic strategist told the outlet. “She was the top communicator for the president of the United States and she can’t get through basic interviews.”
The same Democratic strategist also compared Jean-Pierre’s heavily scrutinized interview with The New Yorker published on Monday — in which the former press secretary discusses her book at length — to “watching Mike Tyson fight a baby,” Politico reported.
Jeremy Edwards, a former Biden White House spokesperson, wrote in a Tuesday post to X that Jean-Pierre’s recent interview with The New Yorker was an “objectively bad” one.
“It’s like watching a toddler jump into the deep end of the pool,” one anonymous individual who worked with Jean-Pierre in Biden’s White House told Politico, in reference to Jean-Pierre’s book tour.
Another anonymous former White House colleague told Politico that Jean-Pierre “doesn’t seem to have any idea what she’s arguing” in her book. Some of the anonymous Democrats told Politico that they were unsure why Jean-Pierre was focusing on the Democratic Party’s struggles in 2024.
“It’s a sad commentary on where things are,” another former Biden White House official told the outlet. “The premise of the book doesn’t really make any sense, it’s sort of illogical. Being back out there and regurgitating those three weeks: it’s just unhelpful right now and we need to be focusing on the things Democrats need to be doing to fight back against Trump.”
“The interviews use a vernacular, which we now acknowledge doesn’t work — very identity focused. It’s bringing us back in time and we need to be going forward and focused on communications that we know will work in this era,” the same former Biden White House official added.
“The truth is that Karine has always been an independent voice throughout her career in politics, so I don’t find her views all that surprising,” Jennifer Palmieri, who served as White House communications director under former President Barack Obama, told Politico. “But in the end I think people who hear about the book will consider it to represent one woman’s view and it won’t have any impact on the party one way or another.”
The report comes as many Democratic politicians have been aiming to refresh their party’s image ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The Democratic Party’s current messaging strategy has recently been criticized by some as being overly negative.
On Thursday, SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly blasted Jean-Pierre for consistently talking about being “black and queer.” Moreover, former CNN host Jim Acosta told Jean-Pierre during an Oct. 22 episode of “The Jim Acosta Show” that he had been worried Biden may die while in office.
Jean-Pierre notably suggested in her book that some Democrats hoping for an open primary after Biden dropped his 2024 reelection bid was an insult to former Vice President Kamala Harris.
“She’s contributing to a larger, very sad narrative of [Biden’s] chapter in the history book becoming less about his accomplishments and more about the drama of his presidency and post-presidency,” one anonymous Democratic communications strategist told Politico.
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