Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gives her final briefing to the White House press corps
In a tearful farewell to the White House press corps yesterday, Karine Jean-Pierre, the first out and Black press secretary to serve a U.S. president, said her time in the role had “been an honor of a lifetime.”
Jean-Pierre opened the briefing with more details about the just-announced ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, calling the occasion “a very good day.”
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Jean-Pierre, 50, came to the job in May 2022 following her former colleague Jen Psaki, who attended yesterday’s briefing in support of her one-time deputy.
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It was her 306th briefing and the last briefing for the Biden administration, she told the assembled reporters.
Before taking questions, Jean-Pierre invoked a “point of personal privilege,” as President Biden was known to do in his days as U.S. senator from Delaware, she said.
“All of us in this administration understand that a free press is a cornerstone of our nation, and that the job you do — questioning leaders and holding the powerful accountable — is important. And as I said during my first briefing when I took over this role, we might not see eye-to-eye here in this room all of the time, and that is okay. The give-and-take that happens here is incredibly healthy, and it is part of our democracy. I have been honored to partake in it with all of you.”
“Well, most of the time,” she added, eliciting laughter from the press corps and colleagues.
“It is my sincere hope that, while I may be the first for many things at this podium, behind this lectern, I am not the last. I hope my presence at this podium has served as inspiration to many young girls out there who took who look at me and look at this job, and look at what we’ve been able to do and have a similar background as me, and hopefully they can follow their dreams and never give up,” she said.
Jean-Pierre thanked the White House communications staff as “the best team in the business,” and gave a shout-out to Psaki, saying, “Thank you for your kindness, thank you for your friendship.”
The press secretary choked up as she lamented her young daughter had “gone too many nights without me being around and without me being there for school drop-offs, and without your mom around, and I can’t wait to spend more time with you. I call her my Pudding, so I can’t wait to spend more time with you, Pudding.”
Her final thank you was for her boss, who she commended for restoring honor to the White House. “I will be forever grateful to the president for his trust and this amazing opportunity,” she said.
“Progress is not always a straight line,” Jean-Pierre added, “but we all must do our part. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, whose birthday is indeed today, ‘Bend it towards justice,’ and pay it forward. I hope that I and many barrier-breaking colleagues in this administration have played a small role in doing just that.”
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