Former Biden-era White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre abruptly left the Democratic Party in her rear-view mirror, announcing in June that she had become an Independent after spending more than two years as President Joe Biden’s top spokesperson and defender.
‘Our country has become obsessed with blind loyalty to a two-party democratic system. In her new book, timed for publication just one year after the 2024 election, Karine Jean-Pierre shares why Americans must begin to look beyond party lines and why she chose to embrace life as an Independent,’ a press release announcing Jean-Pierre’s upcoming book, ‘Independent,’ stated while revealing that the former spox had ditched the Democratic Party.
‘Jean-Pierre didn’t come to her decision to be an Independent lightly, she has served two American presidents, Obama and Biden. . . . She takes us through the three weeks that led to Biden’s abandoning his bid for a second term and the betrayal by the Democratic Party that led to his decision,’ the press release continued.
Fox News Digital took a look back at Jean-Pierre’s history as press secretary – which spanned from May 13, 2022, until January 20, 2025 – including the most partisan stances and statements she made in defense of the administration as the immigration crisis spiraled to new highs, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the administration embraced transgender issues, and the White House’s heated rhetoric aimed at President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election.
‘We are not finishing a wall. We are cleaning up the mess that the prior administration made. We are trying to save lives. This is what the prior administration left behind that we are now cleaning up,’ Jean-Pierre declared from the White House briefing room’s podium in July of 2022, as the Biden administration said it would not continue work on the Trump administration’s border wall.
‘A border wall is an ineffective use of taxpayer dollars, so it’s ineffective,’ she added.
Months later, as Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allowed U.S. officials to turn away migrants who came to the U.S.-Mexico border because of health concerns was set to expire, Jean-Pierre argued, ‘It would be wrong to think that the border is open. It is not open.’
Critics at the time slammed the press secretary over the comment, calling the comment a ‘bold-faced lie’ as migrants were seen coming across the border with little consequences.
The Biden administration was in power when the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision effectively ending the recognition of abortion as a constitutional right in the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in June of 2022, with Jean-Pierre calling the ruling ‘extreme.’
‘When the Supreme Court made that extreme decision on Dobbs, it really put a lot of families and women’s lives at risk,’ she said during a press conference in July of 2022.
The Biden White House frequently celebrated LGBTQ holidays during its four years, including fiercely defending transgender issues and policies that the Trump administration has since ended.
‘Tomorrow is Trans Visibility Day,’ Jean-Pierre said during a March 2023 press conference slamming Republicans who put forth legislation that aimed to keep biological boys out of girls’ sports and end transgender surgeries for minors. ‘On a day that we should be lifting up our trans kids and our trans youth and making sure that they feel seen, we’re seen more and more of these hateful, hateful bills.’
‘We’ve been very clear about these anti-LGBTQ bills that we’re seeing in state legislatures across the country, in particular these anti-trans bills, as they attack trans kids, as they attack trans parents. It is shameful, and it is unacceptable,’ she added.
In the months leading up to Election Day, Trump faced two separate assassination attempts, including one in Butler, Pennsylvania, during a campaign rally in July that left him with an injury to the side of his head after a bullet whizzed towards him, and another in September when a man attempted to kill Trump while he played golf in Florida.
‘It’s been only two days since somebody allegedly tried to kill Donald Trump again, and you’re here at the podium in the White House briefing room calling him a threat,’ Fox News’ Peter Doocy pressed during a news conference in September of 2024. ‘How many more assassination attempts on Donald Trump until the president and the vice president and you pick a different word to describe Trump other than ‘threat’?’
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden had both repeatedly claimed that ‘Democracy is on the ballot’ last year amid Trump’s re-election campaign. While the White House, Biden and Harris additionally described Trump as a ‘threat’ to democracy, Fox Digital previously extensively reported.
Jean-Pierre exhaled in a sign of disapproval before answering: ‘Peter, if anything, from this administration, I actually completely disagree with the premise of your question, the question that you’re asking. It is also incredibly dangerous in the way that you are asking it, because American people are watching. And to say that, when you start bringing political rhetoric. . . . That is not okay.’
‘There are people watching at home who might miss the part where you say, let’s lower the temperature. And there are mentally unstable people who are attempting to kill political candidates, attempting to kill Donald Trump. And they are still hearing this White House refer to him as a threat. Is there no concern?’ Doocy continued in the press conference.
‘We’re using examples. We’re not just saying that just to say it,’ Jean-Pierre responded.
