Karine Jean Pierre is the White House’s first openly gay and immigrant White House Press secretary. You’d be hard-pressed not to given that it’s all the administration, and Jean-Pierre herself, seemed to talk about when she was announced as the replacement for Jen Psaki. Psaki made the transition to MSNBC.
Perhaps the White House could have made an effort to verify that Jean-Pierre was actually qualified for the job, despite all the attention being paid to identity. The results so far speak for themselves, with Jean-Pierre becoming infamous for staring down at her notes, repeating passages verbatim that don’t even relate to the question that was asked. Jean-Pierre, despite her faults, is incredibly fast on her feet.
And while you expect to get a range of platitudes and obfuscations from a White House press secretary, Jean-Pierre doesn’t have the skills to pull the act off, and it’s painfully obvious. In fact, it’s so obvious that even her allies are now starting to notice.
It’s been a rocky first month for White House press secretary KARINE Jean-PIERRE.
Reporters have been baffled by her answers, making some White House colleagues squirm. In recent years, she has found herself on the podium with others or sharing briefings. JOHN KIRBYHe has taken the leadership in foreign policy, and sometimes appears to act as co-press secretary.
Republicans also have their eyes on her. a useful punching bag.
While Politico may be admitting that Jean-Pierre is not a good candidate for the job, it’s still a great thing to see. that Jean-Pierre is objectively bad at her job, they still manage to work in a “Republicans pounce” angle.
Against such a difficult backdrop, her stumbles in several instances have made her appear underprepared — in moments quickly weaponized by the right.
It was not known that the Interior Secretary had been appointed. DEB HAALAND had tested positive for Covid and didn’t know Biden had been with Haaland two days before at a Memorial Day event. “Oh, were they?” The reporter raised eyebrows when she stated that the woman had taken pictures of the two.
And when asked that day about the president telling Naval Academy graduates that he had been appointed to the academy in 1965 — a claim Skepticism was met — Jean Pierre said: “I didn’t hear that part of the speech.”
Here’s the reality. Jean-Pierre does not “appear” to be underprepared. Jean-Pierre is not “appearing” to be underprepared. It is underprepared. In fact, as the above excerpt shows, there are times when she’s not prepared at all. What kind of press secretary can be unprepared for a speech by the President? How can you suggest that the administration doesn’t even pay attention to the stock market when asked about it crashing? How can you not have an answer ready to go when asked about Biden’s conflation of taxes and inflation?
Understand, though, that Jean-Pierre’s performance would be even worse if she wasn’t surrounded by a compliant media that sees its job as protecting her and the president. What if Jean-Pierre was surrounded by a team of reporters, like Peter Doocy?
Reporters, however, manage to find excuses for what they consider ultimately to be a criticism.
“She It is so focused on not making a mistake that she doesn’t let herself speak freely,” another reporter said. “A lot of her responses end up becoming… it appears that she’sYou can read from one page.”
Again, it doesn’t appear that she’s reading from a page. She is reading from a page. The briefing is facilitated by Karine Jean-Pierre, who brings with her a huge binder to which she begins reading word for word answers, that could or might not be related to the question being asked. That’s who Karine Jean-Pierre is. She’s not a good press secretary, and she would not have snagged the job she holds had the White House not been so desperate to proclaim another “historic first” in promoting her.
And to be sure, I’m not suggesting a black, gay person can’t be a good press secretary. Rather, I’m suggesting ThisBlack or gay individual isn’tA good press secretary is essential. I think that’s undeniable at this point, and it’s a lesson in why you should not make hires based purely on misguided notions of diversity and equity. The White House chose to make her identity a centerpiece, but in the end, it’s not Jean-Pierre’s attributes that are the problem. It’s her being bad at her job.
About Post Author
