President Joe Biden announced he is promoting Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre to become White House press secretary when Jen Psaki steps down next week. Jean-Pierre will be the first Black woman and the first out LGBTQ person in the role—and also the first Black or queer mom!
Jean-Pierre, who will also take on the title of assistant to the president, is a veteran political organizer, commentator, and author who served as senior advisor to President-Elect Joe Biden and chief of staff to Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris during the 2020 campaign, and became principal deputy press secretary in 2020. She served as regional political director for the White House Office of Political Affairs in the Obama administration and as deputy battleground states director for President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, was more recently chief public affairs officer for MoveOn and an NBC and MSNBC political analyst. She has a Master of Public Affairs degree from Columbia University and is a lecturer for its School of International and Public Affairs.
Among her other previous roles, she was a campaign manager for the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Initiative—which perhaps takes on more significance in light of this week’s news that the Supreme Court is planning to overturn Roe v. Wade. Jean-Pierre won’t be setting policy, of course, but she obviously speaks the language of reproductive rights, which will be a key asset in handling what I expect will be a flood of questions on the topic in the coming months.
Jean-Pierre was born in Martinique to Haitian parents but raised in New York City. She and her partner, CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, have one daughter.
In his announcement of her appointment today, President Biden said, “Karine not only brings the experience, talent and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people. Jill and I have known and respected Karine a long time and she will be a strong voice speaking for me and this Administration.”
Congratulations to Jean-Pierre and her whole family.