'As good as a basic chat box': Internet divided as White House sources claim Karine Jean-Pierre was close to being replaced last fall

WASHINGTON, DC: President Joe Biden’s top White House aides reportedly strategized a secretive plot to replace White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, last year.

They planned to enlist prominent Democrats to convince the 49-year-old to resign from her current role.

According to The New York Post, Jean-Pierre, who made history in May 2022 as the first black and openly gay person to hold the position, reportedly had a tendency to read prepared responses directly from her binder during her routine White House press briefings.

Her supervisors saw this as a less-than-convincing portrayal for the 81-year-old incumbent POTUS as he geared up for his re-election campaign.

What was revealed about the conflict within the White House on removing Jean-Pierre?

Sources indicate that Anita Dunn, the de facto White House communications chief and wife of Biden's personal attorney, Bob Bauer, made the decision to enlist influential Democratic allies to convey to Jean-Pierre that it was opportune for her to step away from her role.

“There were a number of people she asked to engage Karine,” one source said.

Additionally, the source revealed that Dunn had mentioned White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients was aware of and supportive of the strategy to push Jean-Pierre out of the West Wing.

“There was an effort to have some outside folks who Karine knows and trusts talk to her about why leaving last fall would have made a lot of sense for her and her career,” the source claimed, describing it as an “effort to encourage her to move along.”

The source continued, "Jean-Pierre had been in the job for a year and a half at that point, which is a pretty standard tenure for a press secretary in what is admittedly a very demanding job [and] Jeff and Anita [tried] to have folks that she would listen to and trust talk to her about why it might be wise to do that.”

A second source informed that "Jeff and Anita were trying to find Karine a graceful exit" due to the unfavorable consequences of removing her against her will.

“There’s a huge diversity issue and they’re afraid of what folks are going to say,” the second source added.

The first source stated that although the disclosure of Dunn's intention is likely to trigger challenging dynamics at work, Jean-Pierre's departure doesn't seem likely to occur anytime soon.

“She has been pretty consistent in telling people from the minute she got the job that she was going to stay through the election,” the first source stated. “I think Karine has decided to stay come hell or high water and that’s that.”

Even while Jean-Pierre is staying put, the problems that led to Dunn's botched schemes still exist.

According to both sources, the White House Press Secretary relies too much on notes to offer the criticism and crosstalk required to properly advance Biden's agenda.

“Karine doesn’t have an understanding of the issues and she reads the book [binder] word-for-word,” the second source argued, adding that the situation is made worse by the fact that “she thinks she’s doing an amazing job.”

“She doesn’t have a grasp of the issues and doesn’t spend the time to learn,” he continued.

“These issues are not second nature to people. Israel and Gaza is a perfect example. It’s very nuanced. Jen (Psaki) would have calls with people to feel well-versed enough to go to the briefing,” he contended.

“There’s an enormous amount of work that goes into getting ready, and consistently she does not put in that level of work,” he remarked.

In response, White House deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said, “Not only are these claims wildly false, but the reality is the polar opposite. Karine was never approached by anyone with such a message. She spends four hours preparing every day. And neither Jeff nor Anita did any such thing; both have been unflinchingly supportive of her.”

Bates asked the aforementioned outlet on Friday morning, “Every press secretary uses the binder. Why is she being singled out?”

Internet divided as White House sources claim there was a plot to overthrow Karine Jean-Pierre 

One X user remarked, "I can't understand why they'd want to fire her, makes no sense."

Another user said, "Says a lot that this administration can’t fire their own press secretary."

Another user wrote, "She's the perfect representative of this administration."

One user quipped, "She's almost as good as a basic chat box, but, more like a flowchart of canned responses to known questions."

Another X user claimed, "They can't do anything right. Even against their own."

Finally, this user tweeted, "No man. Leave her. I quite enjoy watching the dumpster fire she is."

 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.