Joe Biden’s former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has written a revealing book addressing his political opponents and announcing her departure from the Democratic Party.
Her new book, Independent, showcases a cover with fragmented glass, with a PR release characterizing its content as ‘an exploration of a fractured White House from beyond party boundaries.’
The publisher Hachette presents it as an ‘essential, relevant analysis’ and encourages Americans to ‘vote according to their values while preserving individualism within party structures.’
The news sent slack-jawed former colleagues huddling into online group chats to vent about the longtime operative some accused of being a ‘grifter’ for cashing in with the book.
One operative told Politico it was ‘the most grift-y thing I’ve seen in a long time, and that’s saying something in Washington.’
‘A lot of group chats were revived today,’ posted former White House official Symone Sanders-Townsend, a former advisor to VP Kamala Harris, on X, adding a smiling / crying emoji.
‘Counting 13 on my end,’ chimed in former Biden State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.
Jean-Pierre spent years defending Biden from the White House podium on both substance and questions about his age, health, and mental fitness.
It comes as her former boss has been hit by a round of tough press coverage with the release of Axios reporter Alex Thompson and CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s new book, ‘Original Sin,’ which rakes the Biden White House for covering up signs of his decline.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was the ultimate Biden loyalist while serving as his press secretary
‘In a country obsessed with blind loyalty to a two-party democratic system, Karine Jean-Pierre, former White House press secretary to the Biden-Harris administration, shares why Americans must step beyond party lines to embrace life as Independents,’ according to an online release for the book.
‘Jean-Pierre didn’t come to her decision to be an Independent lightly,’ it says – indicating she has leaving the party, after working in the Biden administration.
She worked as a political director for Obama. She also worked for liberal outside group MoveOn.
The write-up for her forthcoming book indicates she’ll take on people within the party who tried to force Biden to end his reelection campaign after his debate disaster.
‘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,’ according to the release.
The book jacket says it will reveal a ‘broken White House’
It calls it a ‘hard-hitting yet hopeful critique.’
The tome runs 256 pages, and goes on sale October 21.
Although she has been largely quiet since Biden left office following former Vice President Kamala Harris’s defeat, Jean-Pierre referenced some of the scores she plans to settle during an interview in February at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
She said the ‘toughest thing to see’ was a ‘firing squad’ during the weeks after Biden’s debate, when a series of party stalwarts pushed him to get out of the race, arguing he couldn’t defeat Donald Trump with his lousy approval ratings.
‘I had never seen anything like it before,’ she intoned. ‘I had never seen a party do that in the way that they did. And it was hurtful and sad to see that happening – a firing squad around a person who I believe was a true patriot.’
Harris’ loss to Trump in all seven heavily contested battleground states has led to a round of soul-searching among Democrats while Trump seeks to transform the country and takes on institutions from the Ivy League to the legal establishment to arts institutions like the Kennedy Center.
Prominent figures inside and outside Biden’s inner circle are getting quizzed on whether they themselves saw evidence of mental decline in the 82-year-old Democrat.
The White House last year was forced to deny a report of an internal plot to entice Jean-Pierre to leave her post, amid complaints about some of her stumbles her reliance on a binder of prepared information.
