Ex-Biden Official Calls Karine Jean-Pierre 'Kinda Dumb'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Former Biden Administration official Tim Wu called Karine Jean-Pierre "kind dumb" after the former White House press secretary revealed she is no longer a Democrat and announced her new book about her experiences.
Wu, who served as a special assistant to President Joe Biden for competition and technology policy, took aim at Jean-Pierre in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
"From WH policy staff perspective, the real problem with Karine Jean-Pierre was that she was kinda dumb. No interest in understanding harder topics. Just gave random incoherent answers on policy," wrote Wu, now a Columbia Law School professor.
Responding to a question from another X user asking if a press secretary needs to know policy, Wu replied: "Yes it is the job of a GOOD press secretary to meet with policy staff and try and understand what the Adminstration is doing and why."
Wu exited the Biden Administration at the beginning of 2023.
This is a developing story. Updates to follow.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
40 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
X users were glued to the Musk v. Trump blowup. Could this be good for the platform?
Related : Advertisement 'X operates as a personality-driven platform, and Musk's high-profile conflicts can fuel engagement at least in the short term,' said Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University's Tech Policy Institute. 'The platform has leaned into spectacle as a growth strategy, and controversy often drives traffic.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up President Donald Trump, of course, posted through the breakup on his own personal platform, Truth Social with three updates targeting Musk directly on Thursday. But Truth Social's audience is just a fraction of X's, and social media experts at this stage don't see it siphoning the former Twitter's user base as a result of the feud. Trump was banned from Twitter in 2021 following the Jan. 6 riots on the Capitol and he returned more than 2.5 years later after Musk reinstated his account. On X, he has nearly 106 million followers — compared with less than 10 million on Truth Social, where he's continued to post following the feud — at least 10 times on Friday. Advertisement 'It's a niche platform with limited reach outside Trump's core base,' Kreps said. 'That said, if Trump were to fully re-engage there and disengage from X entirely, it could fragment the right-wing audience somewhat. But barring major user migration, X still dominates in political discourse.' Trump hasn't indicated that he'd leave X — and Musk hasn't said he'd consider banning him — but the president has not posted on the site since June 3, although the official White House account has continued to send updates. According to Mobile app analytics firm Sensor Tower, X and Truth Social both saw mobile app usage skyrocket on Thursday as the Musk-Trump blowup played out on the two men's respective social platforms. U.S. mobile app active users on X between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern were up 54%, while Truth Social saw a fivefold increase. Overall, Sensor Tower estimates that X's audience is about 100 times larger than Truth Social's. On BlueSky, meanwhile, many users seemed to delight in watching the drama unfold on the platform they (mostly) left behind, posting screenshots from X, Truth Social as well as their own share of memes and commentary. But the site, which has welcomed users disillusioned with Musk's politics and policies on X, is unlikely to become a huge draw for Trump die-hards. 'It's too early to measure any long-term shifts in user behavior, but political audiences on X have tended to be resilient, even in the face of controversy,' Kreps said. 'Trump supporters are unlikely to abandon the platform en masse unless there's sustained antagonism or a perceived shift in content moderation policy. Right now, this looks more like a personality clash than an ideological break so user migration feels speculative at this stage.' Advertisement As for X's advertising business, Emarketer analyst Jasmine Enberg said she doubts the feud will have a material effect. 'Advertisers who were spending small sums on the platform due to Musk's proximity to Trump may rethink their commitments,' she said. 'At the same time, the breakup between Musk and Trump hasn't eliminated the threat of legal or business repercussions given the FTC investigation into the alleged ad boycott, so there's still incentive for those brands to stay.' According to The New York Times, which cited unnamed sources, the Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether roughly a dozen advertising and advocacy groups violated antitrust law by coordinating boycotts among advertisers that didn't want their brands to appear next to hateful or other objectionable content. In the end, Musk 'remains a divisive figure, regardless of his position in the White House,' Enberg said, and any efforts by X to make the platform less divisive — such as a recent program designed to elevate content that people agree on —'can only go so far with brands and consumers if he continues to use X as his own personal megaphone to amplify controversial content.'
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
With $122M spent, the 2025 governor's race is already New Jersey's most expensive
Spending totals for this campaign have already more than doubled those in every gubernatorial primary since at least the turn of the millennium. (Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor) Candidates and outside groups have spent more than $122.5 million on this year's gubernatorial primary, a total greater than any other in state history and one that stands to rise in the race's closing days, the New Jersey Election Law Commission said Friday. The spending total includes $54.9 million from the candidates themselves and $67.7 million from outside groups. Between them, $14 million remained unspent, and that number could swell from late-arriving donations to independent expenditure groups, which face no contribution limits. Voting is underway and ends Tuesday. Spending totals for this campaign have already more than doubled those in every gubernatorial primary since at least the turn of the millennium and have outpaced even the most expensive gubernatorial general election. That November 2005 race between Democrat Jon Corzine and Republican Doug Forrester cost about $98 million after adjustments to inflation, the commission said. This year's 11 gubernatorial candidates had about $6.7 million left in reserves on May 27, the last date covered by regular pre-election campaign finance disclosures. The commission credited the number of candidacies and a larger gubernatorial fund match for the increase. Candidates who meet fundraising and spending thresholds can receive up to $5.5 million in matching public dollars for the primary in exchange for observing an $8.7 million primary spending cap and participating in debates hosted by the commission. Five of the eight candidates have maxed out or nearly maxed out their matching funds. Of the $54.9 million spent by the candidates, Democrats Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Rep. Mikie Sherrill lead the pack, with Fulop spending nearly $8.7 million and Sherrill shelling out $8.5 million as of May 27. Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2017 and 2021, spent $8 million, followed by Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat, at $7.9 million. Spending by outside groups is dominated by Working New Jersey, a super PAC funded by an independent expenditure group linked to statewide teachers union the New Jersey Education Association. It is responsible for more than half of the outside spending in the race, with at least $37.5 million boosting Democrat Sean Spiller, the union's president. Spiller's own campaign has spent only $342,059. Spiller's Democratic rivals have seen less but still sizable support from independent expenditure groups. They have boosted Rep. Josh Gottheimer to the tune of $11.6 million; Fulop, $7.4 million; former state Sen. Steve Sweeney, $4.3 million; and Sherrill, $3.8 million. A group run in part by Trump ally Kellyanne Conway has spent $1.3 million supporting Ciattarelli's campaign. Gubernatorial totals far exceed fundraising and spending on this year's Assembly races (all 80 seats in the chamber are on the ballot this year). Not counting independent expenditures, Assembly candidates have raised nearly $26.3 million and spent about $15.4 million, the commission said. Most of that money, $20.8 million, has flowed to incumbents. Collectively, challengers have raised just under $5.5 million. The ratio is similarly split along party lines. Democratic candidates account for $21.6 million of the funds raised, while only $4.7 million went to Republicans. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Trump Says He'll 'Take A Look' At Elon Musk's Government Contracts
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump has said he plans to "take a look" at Elon Musk's government contracts after their huge blow-up. In the midst of the dispute on Thursday, Trump had warned that the "easiest way" to save bullions in the budget was to "terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts." Cooler heads prevailed on Friday, with Musk and Trump refraining from slinging direct insults at each other. But when asked if he planned to go through with his threat to cut Musk's government subsidies, by a reporter on Air Force One, Trump did not rule it out. "We'll take a look at everything. It's a lot of money. It's a lot of subsidy. So we'll take a look at that — only if it's fair for him and for the country ... but it has to be fair," he said. This is a breaking news story, updates to follow.
