"Who cares": Congress' Dems say good riddance to Karine Jean-Pierre
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Then-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks at a White House press conference on Jan. 10. Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
If former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre thought she would set off a five-alarm fire among top Democrats by leaving the party, she is about to be sorely disappointed.
Why it matters: Democratic lawmakers who spoke to Axios characterized her personal motives as too transparent to be a knock on the party — and they don't exactly feel like they're losing their best messenger either.
- "Who cares," exclaimed one House Democrat. "It's easy for paid operatives to leave the party ... until they need something."
- Said another: "Her explanation for this move is as confusing and disjointed as her answers in her White House press briefings."
- Jean-Pierre did not respond to a request for comment.
Driving the news: Jean-Pierre revealed Wednesday that she is becoming an independent after serving in two Democratic presidential administrations.
- The announcement coincides with the release of a new book, "Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines."
- The book's description decries "blind loyalty to a two-party democratic system" and promises to delve into "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."
What they're saying: "Other than Sean Spicer ... she was the worst press secretary in American history," a third House Democrat told Axios of Jean-Pierre.
- "There were rumors that the Biden folks were trying to get rid of her because she's so terrible," the lawmaker said, speculating that she is trying to curry favor with Republicans to avoid a congressional subpoena.
- "I don't know who wrote her book. We know she couldn't give a press conference without reading every word from her briefing," they added.
Zoom in: Jean-Pierre has also been lit up by her former Biden White House colleagues, with one former official telling Axios' Alex Thompson she was "one of the most ineffectual and unprepared people I've ever worked with."
- "She had meltdowns after any interview that asked about a topic not sent over by producers," the official said.
- Said another: "The amount of time that was spent coddling [Jean-Pierre] and appeasing her was astronomical compared to our attention on actual matters of substance."
Zoom out: The latest Bidenworld infighting comes after the release of a new book from Thompson and CNN's Jake Tapper, "Original Sin," which recounts how Biden's team shielded him from public scrutiny about his age.
- House Republicans are in the process of digging into those questions, trying to get former Biden aides, including his personal physician, to testify about his health while in office.
