On Wednesday, former press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s break from the Democratic Party was made public in a press release from Hachette Book Group which revealed that Legacy Lit, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, has acquired Jean-Pierre’s new book Independent: A Look Inside a Broken Whitehouse, Outside the Party Lines.
During their book tour, Tapper and Thompson expressed bewilderment that a Democrat could leave the party in defense of Joe Biden.
The book will be published in October of this year to “[share] why Americans must step beyond party lines to embrace life as Independents.”
Jean-Pierre’s decision is surprising given her employment history within the Democratic Party. After serving in both the Obama and Biden administrations and vehemently defending Biden to the American people, Jean-Pierre “didn’t come to her decision to be an Independent lightly,” according to the press release.
Jean-Pierre believes that strict adherence to party lines stifles effective change: “We need to be willing to exercise the ability to think creatively and plan strategically … rather than [being] blindly loyal and obedient as we may have been in the past,” she said.
During the previous administration, the former press secretary was notoriously defensive of Joe Biden. Even after Biden’s fateful debate with President Donald Trump, Jean-Pierre remained his ardent advocate. When the Democratic Party ousted Biden as the presidential nominee, Jean-Pierre was disheartened.
“I had never seen a party do that in the way that they did, and it was hurtful and sad to see,” she said. “A firing squad around a … true patriot … who I believe did everything that he can for this country.”
True to this defensive pattern, Jean-Pierre’s new book does not appear reactionary against the former president; evidently, Independent will focus on the environment at the White House in the wake of the infamous debate.
Jean-Pierre’s announcement has caused the Left to reveal its true feelings about her performance as press secretary.
According to Fox News, one former Biden official commented that “[Jean-Pierre] was the public face telling us … that Biden was amazing. And now she doesn’t even want to be a Democrat?”
Axios reported a House Democrat saying, “Her explanation [for leaving] … is as … disjointed as her answers in her White House press briefings.”
Some Democrats are even calling her the “worst press secretary in American history.”
Not only are the Democrats speaking loudly against Jean-Pierre’s performance, but they are also dismissing her new book as a money grab.
A current White House official told Axios: “The hubris of thinking you can position yourself as an outsider … It’s difficult to see how this is anything but a bizarre cash grab.”
In the past, there has been controversy surrounding Jean-Pierre on both sides of the aisle. At one point, Democrat insiders allegedly attempted to take Jean-Pierre out of her role, and Republicans, both in and outside of government, have called her a diversity hire from day one.
Among Jean-Pierre’s many critics are Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, who published their own ‘tell-all’ book Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again just last month. Because of his role in mainstream media, Tapper specifically took criticism for not getting the information out to the public sooner.
During their book tour, Tapper and Thompson expressed bewilderment that a Democrat could leave the party in defense of Joe Biden. They also asserted different reasons that some officials who critique Jean-Pierre still won’t reveal their names.
“The Biden culture was to punish and try to destroy people who spoke out,” posited Thompson. Though no longer in office, he added, the same people are “watching very closely,” which likely discourages Jean-Pierre’s critics from coming forward.
Tapper suggested that the intersectional boxes checked by Jean-Pierre made her a difficult target for Democrats to hit without backlash.
Both men doubt Jean-Pierre’s credibility, a great irony considering the attacks aimed at Tapper for complacency in the Biden cover-up addressed in Original Sin. Many believe that, like Jean-Pierre, Tapper withheld information until he could safely profit from it.
Chaos of the Post-Biden Democrat Party
Jean-Pierre’s announcement comes at an inopportune time for her old party. Jean-Pierre and Tapper’s differing opinions are demonstrative of a broader issue unfolding within the Democratic Party. Still reeling from election losses in 2024, Democrats are struggling to unify on a path forward. There are countless self-diagnoses for the party’s problem and even more proposed solutions.
Jean-Pierre’s exit only further complicates the situation.
Jean-Pierre is not the only one who has ditched the Democrats since November. However, losing the former spokesperson is yet another devastating blow to the Democratic Party’s ability to present a united front.
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