Karine Jean-Pierre leaves Democratic Party, becomes independent

Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has left the Democratic Party and become an independent.

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That’s one of the revelations in her latest book, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines. It’s scheduled for release October 21, but information about it has just dropped online.

“Jean-Pierre didn’t come to her decision to be an Independent lightly,” says a description on the Hachette Book Group’s website; the book is coming out under Hachette’s Legacy Lit imprint. “She has served two American presidents, Obama and Biden. In 2020, she joined Biden’s campaign as a senior adviser, becoming Harris’s chief of staff and then, two years later, White House press secretary. 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.”

Jean-Pierre, a lesbian, was the first out member of the LGBTQ+ community to be White House press secretary as well as the first Black person in the job. She assumed the position in May 2022, when Press Secretary Jen Psaki left to join MSNBC. Jean-Pierre was previously principal deputy White House press secretary. As press secretary, she had the longest tenure of any woman in the job, at two years and eight months. She held 306 briefings.

During her time as press secretary, Jean-Pierre often pushed back on right-wing misinformation, including anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. In an exit interview withThe Advocate in January, she recalled numerous times she addressed the surge of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation across the U.S., including over 600 Republican-led bills introduced during the 2023-2024 legislative calendar.

“I would go to the podium to talk about these bills, the attack on our trans siblings, what was happening in state legislatures,” she said. “A lot of those times were incredibly personal to me. I would ask my team, ‘We have to talk about this bill in Florida or Tennessee or how they’re attacking the drag community.’”

She also noted the historic nature of her position. "I am obviously acutely aware that my presence at this podium represents a few firsts," she said in her first briefing as press secretary. "I am a Black gay immigrant woman, the first of all three of those to hold this position. I would not be here today if it were not for generations of barrier-breaking people before me. I stand on their shoulders. ... I benefit from their sacrifices, I have learned from their excellence, and I am forever grateful to them."

Of her decision to turn independent, Jean-Pierre released this statement through her publisher: “Until January 20, I was responsible for speaking on behalf of the President of the United States. At noon on that day, I became a private citizen who, like all Americans and many of our allies around the world, had to contend with what was to come next for our country. We need to be clear-eyed and questioning, rather than blindly loyal and obedient as we may have been in the past.”