Karine Jean-Pierre to Become First Black White House Press Secretary
By Rozina Sabur
Washington
Jen Psaki praised her successor as a 'remarkable woman' - Evan Vucci/AP
Joe Biden has named Karine Jean-Pierre as his next spokeswoman, the first black and openly LGBTQ+ person to serve as the White House press secretary.
She will replace Jen Psaki, who is leaving the administration on May 13, reportedly to take up a role as a commentator for MSNBC.
"Karine not only brings the experience, talent and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris administration on behalf of the American people," Mr Biden said.
Ms Jean-Pierre, 44, has served in the White House press shop since the beginning of the Biden administration and regularly stands in for Ms Psaki in the briefing room.
She also filled in for Ms Psaki on the president's recent trip to Europe after the press secretary contacted Covid-19 .
Ms Psaki praised her successor as a "remarkable woman" in a series of tweets noting the historic nature of her appointment.
"Representation matters and she will give a voice to many, but also make many dream big about what is truly possible."
Ms Jean-Pierre was previously chief of staff to Mr Biden's vice president Kamala Harris.
Prior to that she worked as an analyst for MSNBC and NBC and served in Barack Obama's White House and his presidential campaigns.
She made headlines in 2019 when she physically intervened when a protester approached Ms Harris on stage and grabbed a microphone out of her hand.
Ms Jean-Pierre, who has a daughter with her partner, CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, later said she was acting on instinct.
“You have three women on stage - three women of color on stage... And a white man with all of his male privilege comes on stage and steps into our personal space," she recalled.
"It was scary. And the only thing I could think of was to act and this was not going to happen today."
Ms Psaki, who has two young children, has made no secret of the fact she intended to leave the White House after a year.
Several people had been touted to replace her, including John Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman who has become a prominent face for the administration's response to the war in Ukraine.
The White House communications director Kate Bedingfield had also reportedly been under consideration for the role.
She is passionate. She is smart and she has a moral core that makes her not just a great colleague, but an amazing Mom and human. Plus, she has a great sense of humor.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) May 5, 2022
Announcing the staffing change, Mr Biden said Ms Psaki restored "decency, respect and decorum to the White House briefing room".
"I want to say thank you to Jen for raising the bar, communicating directly and truthfully to the American people, and keeping her sense of humor while doing so," he said.
Ms Psaki, 43, is reportedly set to join MSNBC as a commentator.
The shakeup in the press shop comes amid a series of senior White House staffing changes as the Democrats brace for the possibility of losing control of Congress in November's midterm elections.
Mr Biden is bringing back his close friend and longtime strategist Anita Dunn as a senior adviser to "assist in advancing the President's policy and communications objectives."
Ms Dunn is a partner at the Democratic consulting firm SKDK, and was a senior adviser on Biden's 2020 campaign and previously chief strategist and communications director for President Barack Obama.
He is also shoring up the White House counsel’s office with communications expert Ian Sams, in anticipation of a Republican-controlled Congress launching investigations into his family and administration. – The Telegraph
