By Bill Juneau, September 13, 2023She is the daughter of Haitian parents from Martinique. Her dad drove a taxi and her mother styled hair in a New York beauty salon. They wanted their daughter, Karine Jean- Pierre to be a doctor, but Jean-Pierre lacked the brain power to be a physician and correspondingly failed the medical entrance exam. So Jean-Pierre opted for journalism and public service.
At college, she earned a bachelor's degree from New York Institute of Technology, and in 2003, a master's degree in public affairs from Columbia University.
"KJ," as she is frequently called by newspersons, is diminutive in height, and her hair is whirly, curly and moppy and of various colors including red, yellow and black. Always well coiffed, her sparkly, metallic eyelids shine in the overhead lights of the Brady Press office in the White House. At 48, she is the first black woman to serve as Press Secretary to a President. Also, she is a proud lesbian, and for 11 years and until very recently, had been in a relationship with former CNN reporter, Suzanne Malveaux, 56.
As partners, "KJ" and Sue had adopted a daughter, Soleil. The story of their split was revealed in a recent article in Vogue magazine.
Jean-Pierre has embraced all tenets and pronouns set forth by the LGBTQ-plus community, and her beliefs are consistent with those of her boss, Joe Biden, the nation's 46th President. Biden has said that he regards the Woke and Pride-Lifestyle and the men and women involved as the "most courageous and brave persons" that he, at 80 years old, has ever met.
Biden told of his high regard for the pride lifestyle following a recent LGBTQ picnic-like party on the lush Green White House lawn. Bare chested trans-men and trans-women danced to music and the President and First Lady Jill watched and applauded the "courageous" participants.
About 15 months ago, KJ was appointed Biden's press secretary, and she replaced Jen Psaki who had served in the position for some 16 months of the President's scheduled four year term in office. KJ had been a deputy to Psaki in the communications department, and prior to that, was an adviser to Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris. Before the Biden-Harris days, Jean-Pierre was the senior advisor and national spokeswoman for the progressive advocacy group, Move On.org.
There is a significant difference in her style alongside Psaki's. Psaki was considered brighter, quicker on her feet, and more able to handle tough inquiries while defending and speaking with a positive spin about the clumsy and slow thinking 46th President of the United States.
Jean-Pierre comes off to viewers of her press briefings as intellectually slow, much like her boss. Some reporters and other observers consider her to be obtuse. With the President as her role model, she distorts the truth whenever she feels the need. But like her predecessor in the $180,000 a year position, she is determined to protect the stumbling and gaffe-ridden President against any and all criticism.
In response to some queries, Jean-Pierre seems to be reading prepared answers from her three-holed binder in much the same way as President Biden reaches for his crib notes to deliver appropriate answers. At press briefings, she has been accused of calling, all too often, on reporters known to praise Biden and to exclude aggressive newspersons who see the President as inept and corrupt. One newsman, Simon Ateba of Today News Africa, has formally accused the Press Secretary of discrimination and of trying to silence him.
After it became known that Biden had confidential documents lying about his oily garage, on the floor and alongside his cherished 1967 convertible, Jeanne Pierre declined comments on reporters' questions about the how and why of the red-stamped, protected documents for more than 20 times, advising the press to take their questions to another source for the answers.
When a cellophane packet of cocaine was found in the west wing of the White House, in a spot under the eyes of "everywhere" cameras, Jean-Pierre snapped at reporters who wanted to know if a Biden was responsible. The President's chief spokesperson said that the Bidens were gone from the White House on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of the period when the "white gravel" was discovered....period. The secret service is conducting an investigation, she said, adding that she had nothing "else to share" on the matter....and the questions from reporters were "incredibly irresponsible.".
Questions of Biden familiarity with Cocaine are reasonable. Son Hunter is a confirmed cocaine addict who was thrown out the navy for his addiction, and daughter, Ashley Blazer Biden has spent time in a drug rehab facility trying to dump the habit. Even daughter-in-law, Hallie Biden, widow of Biden's son Beau, has been wrestling with the habit and has been to rehab quarters several times. Hallie's visits to rehab facilities have, according to emails written by her brother-in-law, Hunter, cost around $100,000 and were paid for all or in part by her father-in-law.
Jean Pierre has drawn criticism with her comments on the transporting of migrants from the open southern border alongside Texas to New York, Chicago and the bay area of Massachusetts and other urban centers.
Bussing and flying migrants around the country without coordination by the federal government, is "dangerous and unacceptable," said the press secretary. "We will continue to be very clear about that. It is dangerous and unacceptable because it is putting people's lives at risk. Also, you are putting a lot of pressure on these states and local areas."
What Americans should know, she added, is that the president has done the work to deal with what we're seeing at the border "since day one," she said. Their criticism amounts to "political stunts."
A Republican researcher who heard Jean-Pierre on television, quipped that "her irony is rich." It takes a "special kind of stupid to say something that absurd. Doesn't she know that 6 million illegal migrants jammed into a few states along the border puts pressure and stress on these states and communities?
News analyst Tucker Carlson who is never reluctant to provide his assessment of political figures, summed up his opinion of Karine Jean-Pierre prior to leaving his prime time anchor position at Fox News. She is "the dumbest, nastiest, most dishonest, and most ridiculous person Biden could possibly find for the very public position of White House press secretary."
Bill Juneau worked for 25 years as a reporter and night city editor at the Chicago Tribune. Subsequently he became a partner in a law firm and also served as a village prosecutor and as a consultant to the Cook County Circuit Court and to the Cook County Medical Examiner. He is currently writing columns and the 'Florida Bill' blog.
