Karine Jean-Pierre, the former Biden White House Press Secretary, has officially left the Democrat Party and now claims she’s an Independent. The move comes as part of a publicity push for her new book — and it’s already backfiring. In an interview with The New Yorker, Jean-Pierre failed to explain why she left the party, contradicted her own reasoning multiple times, and ultimately reduced her political logic to identity politics.
Jean-Pierre says she left the Democrat Party because of how it treated Joe Biden during his forced exit from the 2024 reelection race. Calling it a “betrayal,” she claims there was a campaign to “embarrass” Biden and force him out unfairly. However, when pressed for details, she pointed only to negative news coverage and vague accusations of party disloyalty — not specific actions or decisions.
She attempted to justify her view by pointing to her own identity: “a Black woman who is part of the LGBTQ community.” She claimed Democrats were failing to protect “vulnerable people” and framed Biden’s ouster as a broader rejection of people like herself and Kamala Harris. But when challenged, she couldn’t articulate why Biden’s treatment was unique or unjustified.
The contradictions piled up. Jean-Pierre said Democrats should have backed Biden and Harris to the end, but also criticized those who questioned Harris’s electability — even though she herself admitted she didn’t think Harris could win. When confronted with that inconsistency, her only defense was, “I wish you could walk in my body.”
Despite branding herself a Biden loyalist, Jean-Pierre dismissed concerns over Biden’s fitness by saying she saw no signs of cognitive decline — even after the debate disaster that tanked his polling. She downplayed the debate as a “one time” event and claimed she had “never seen him like that before.”
The meltdown continued when she tried to make Harris’s exclusion from the nomination process an issue of race and gender bias, calling it “an insult.” She argued that Black women are the “backbone of the Party” but are ignored when it’s time for leadership. Yet, when asked if Harris could win, Jean-Pierre said no — while simultaneously attacking others for saying the same thing.
Her biggest contradiction came when she downplayed her entire premise. After arguing Biden deserved better treatment, she dismissed concerns over his removal with, “Joe Biden is out of the picture. He’s out of the picture.”
Jean-Pierre’s attempt to pivot from Democrat loyalist to “Independent truth-teller” has collapsed under the weight of her own incoherence. What was meant to be a triumphant book tour now exposes the core problem of identity-first politics: buzzwords over substance, feelings over facts, and no clear convictions. Jean-Pierre has walked away from her party with no plan, no allies, and no answers.
