Karine Jean-Pierre, former Biden press secretary, leaves Democratic party
Karine Jean-Pierre, former White House press secretary under President Joe Biden, announced on Wednesday June 4 that she has written a book detailing her time in the White House.
The memoir, titled Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines, is set for release on October 21, 2025.
The book promises to offer an inside look at the turbulent final weeks of Biden's presidency, focusing on what Jean-Pierre describes as a 'broken White House.' It will explore the events leading up to Biden's decision to abandon his bid for a second term and the Democratic Party's role in what she considers his 'betrayal.'
According to the publisher, Legacy Lit, Jean-Pierre will delve into her personal journey of leaving the Democratic Party to become an independent, a move she attributed to the country's pressing need for creative, strategic thinking.
In a statement, Jean-Pierre explained that once Biden's presidency ended and Donald Trump returned to office, she realised that the nation needed to break free from old political boxes.
She urged Americans to 'think creatively and plan strategically' and to be 'clear-eyed and questioning' rather than 'blindly loyal and obedient' to political norms.
Jean-Pierre's decision to step away from the Democratic Party comes amid mounting scrutiny over Biden's 2024 re-election bid.
Books like CNN's Original Sin and reports from various media outlets have cast a spotlight on concerns regarding Biden's cognitive and physical health.
Jean-Pierre, who made history as the first Black and openly gay woman to serve as White House press secretary, previously worked as a senior political adviser and served in the Obama administration.
She took over the press secretary role in 2022, succeeding Jen Psaki.
Her tenure in the White House was marked by both praise and criticism. Some commended her handling of difficult press briefings, while others took issue with her responses concerning Biden's health.
In February 2025, Jean-Pierre spoke at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, where she reflected on the difficulties she faced in the final weeks of Biden's campaign.
'I had never seen a party do that in the way that they did,' she said of the backlash Biden faced from fellow Democrats. 'It was hurtful and sad to see that happening.'
Although Jean-Pierre has stated that she does not miss her time as press secretary, she emphasised her commitment to the administration's work, noting, 'I would not have come back into the administration, I don't think, for anybody else [but Biden].'
News of her book has stirred mixed reactions from her former colleagues.
Jeremy Edwards, a former Biden White House spokesperson, took to X (formerly Twitter), writing only 'lol,' a response that some interpreted as a dismissive reaction to Jean-Pierre's departure and revelations.
As the Democratic Party grapples with its direction in the wake of the 2024 election, Jean-Pierre's book is set to offer a candid perspective on a pivotal time in American politics.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
9 hours ago
- Express Tribune
'Return to your country,' Taliban tells Afghans amid US migration curbs
Listen to article The Taliban government on Saturday urged Afghans hoping to emigrate to the United States to instead return to Afghanistan, after Washington tightened entry conditions. US President Donald Trump this week announced a travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, which his proclamation said lacked "competent" central authorities for processing passports and vetting. Commenting on the ban on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces in the two-decade fight against the Taliban insurgency. "For those who are worried that America has closed its doors to Afghans... I want to tell them, 'Return to your country, even if you have served the Americans for 20 or 30 years for their ends, and ruined the Islamic system'," he said in a speech marking the Eid al-Adha holiday, broadcast by state media. Read more: Trump restores travel ban on 12 countries "You will not face abuse or trouble," he said, making reassurances that the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had "granted amnesty for all". After surging to power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government. However, the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses. In the past four years, the Taliban government has imposed a strict view of Islamic law and restrictions on women which the UN says amount to "gender apartheid". Afghans fled in droves to neighbouring countries during decades of conflict, but the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops saw a new wave clamouring to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington. Also read: US revokes temporary protections for Afghans The United States has not had a working embassy in Afghanistan since 2021 and Afghans must apply for visas in third countries, principally Pakistan which has recently ramped up campaigns to expel Afghans. Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Afghans have gradually seen their chances of migrating to the United States or staying there shrink. Trump administration orders have disrupted refugee pathways and revoked legal protections temporarily shielding Afghans from deportation starting in July.
Express Tribune
14 hours ago
- Express Tribune
US Supreme Court grants DOGE access to sensitive social security data
The U.S. Supreme Court building is seen the morning before justices are expected to issue opinions in pending cases, in Washington, U.S., June 14, 2024. Photo:REUTERS Listen to article The US Supreme Court granted on Friday the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a key player in President Donald Trump's drive to slash the federal workforce, broad access to personal information on millions of Americans in Social Security Administration data systems while a legal challenge plays out. On the request of the Justice Department, the judiciary had put on hold Maryland-based US District Judge Ellen Hollander's order that had largely blocked DOGE's access to "personally identifiable information" in data such as medical and financial records while litigation proceeds in a lower court. Hollander found that allowing DOGE unfettered access likely would violate a federal privacy law. The top court's brief, unsigned order did not provide a rationale for siding with DOGE. BREAKING: The Supreme Court grants DOGE affiliates access to Social Security Administration records. Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson would deny the request. — SCOTUSblog (@SCOTUSblog) June 6, 2025 The court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Its three liberal justices dissented from the order. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in a dissent that was joined by fellow liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, criticized the court's majority for granting DOGE "unfettered data access" despite the administration's "failure to show any need or any interest in complying with existing privacy safeguards." In a separate order on Friday, the Supreme Court extended its block on judicial orders requiring DOGE to turn over records to a government watchdog group that sought details on the entity established by US President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk. DOGE swept through federal agencies as part of the Republican president's effort, spearheaded by Musk, to eliminate federal jobs, downsize and reshape the US government and root out what they see as wasteful spending. Musk formally ended his government work on May 30. Two labor unions and an advocacy group filed suits to prevent DOGE from accessing sensitive data at the Social Security Administration (SSA), including social security numbers, bank account data, tax information, earnings history and immigration records. The agency is a major provider of government benefits, sending checks each month to more than 70 million recipients including retirees and disabled Americans. Democracy Forward, a liberal legal group that represented the plaintiffs, said Friday's order would put millions of Americans' data at risk. "Elon Musk may have left Washington DC, but his impact continues to harm millions of people," the group said in a statement. "We will continue to use every legal tool at our disposal to keep unelected bureaucrats from misusing the public's most sensitive data as this case moves forward." In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that SSA had been "ransacked" and that DOGE members had been installed without proper vetting or training. They demanded access to some of the agency's most sensitive data systems. Hollander in an April 17 ruling found that DOGE had failed to explain why its stated mission required "unprecedented, unfettered access to virtually SSA's entire data systems". "For some 90 years, SSA has been guided by the foundational principle of an expectation of privacy with respect to its records," Hollander wrote. "This case exposes a wide fissure in the foundation." Hollander issued a preliminary injunction that prohibited DOGE staffers and anyone working with them from accessing data containing personal information, with only narrow exceptions. The judge's ruling did allow DOGE affiliates to access data that had been stripped of private information as long as those seeking access had gone through the proper training and passed background checks. Hollander also ordered DOGE affiliates to "disgorge and delete" any personal information already in their possession. The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals in a 9-6 vote declined on April 30 to pause Hollander's block on DOGE's unlimited access to Social Security Administration records. Justice department lawyers in their Supreme Court filing characterized Hollander's order as judicial overreach. "The district court is forcing the executive branch to stop employees charged with modernizing government information systems from accessing the data in those systems because, in the court's judgment, those employees do not 'need' such access," they wrote. The six dissenting judges wrote that the case should have been treated the same as one in which 4th Circuit panel ruled 2-1 to allow DOGE to access data at the US Treasury and Education Departments and the Office of Personnel Management. In a concurring opinion, seven judges who ruled against DOGE wrote that the case involving Social Security data was "substantially stronger" with "vastly greater stakes," citing "detailed and profoundly sensitive Social Security records," such as family court and school records of children, mental health treatment records and credit card information.
Business Recorder
a day ago
- Business Recorder
Trump and Musk alliance melts down in blazing public row
WASHINGTON: Americans considered the consequences Friday of the spectacular split between Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump, who threatened to strip the world's richest man of his huge government contracts. Trump and Musk's unlikely political marriage exploded in a fiery public divorce Thursday. The president said in a televised Oval Office diatribe that he was 'very disappointed' after his former aide and top donor criticized his 'big, beautiful' spending bill before Congress. The pair then hurled insults at each other on social media — with Musk even posting, without proof, that Trump was referenced in government documents on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The row could have major political and economic fall out, as shares in Musk's Tesla car company plunged and the South African-born tech tycoon vowed that he would end a critical US spaceship program. But Trump played down the feud during an interview with Politico on Thursday, saying: 'Oh it's okay. It's going very well, never done better.' A call with Musk has been scheduled by the White House on Friday in the hope of diffusing the situation, according to the outlet. Speculation had long swirled that a relationship between the world's richest person and its most powerful could not last long — but the speed of the meltdown took Washington by surprise. 'I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped Elon a lot,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office as visiting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz looked on silently. 'Elon and I had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore.' A hurt-sounding Trump, 78, said it had been only a week since he hosted a grand farewell for Musk as he left the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump later insisted he had asked the tycoon to leave because he was 'wearing thin.'
