Newly promoted White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who also now serves as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, prevents national security spokesperson John Kirby from joining her at the podium at White House press briefings, people familiar with the matter told Axios.
Infighting and “tension” reportedly exist between Jean-Pierre and Kirby about how much time each is allotted to provide the establishment media with canned public relations remarks during press briefings, Axios previously reported. Kirby is reportedly a “Biden favorite” with experience in foreign policy.
Axios reported Monday on Jean-Pierre’s attempt to prevent Kirby from speaking to the press:Having both of them at the podium was what Biden wanted, but Jean-Pierre thought that Kirby’s presence gave the impression she needed a chaperone, people familiar with her thinking told Axios.
One person familiar with the dynamic said: “The president made the call to have Kirby regularly brief — and it’s the president’s briefing room, not anyone else’s.”
“That characterization of their dynamic is inaccurate,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Axios, but a spokesperson for the National Security Council did not deny the leak.Jean-Pierre also expressed frustration that she didn’t have decision-making power over when Kirby would join a briefing, a person familiar with the matter told Axios.
Jean-Pierre’s tactics coincided with the departure on July 30 of Anita Dunn, the White House’s top communications aide. Since her departure, Jean-Pierre has allowed Kirby at the podium with her only 15 percent of the time, down from 55 percent prior to Dunn’s departure.
The press, which widely criticized Jean-Pierre as a poor communicator, reported in 2023 that White House aides failed to boot Jean-Pierre from her position in light of what some consider her poor job performance.
Jean-Pierre is the first black woman and the first openly gay person to hold the title of press secretary.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
