Karine Jean-Pierre on Kamala Harris: “As A Black Woman, There Was That Added Importance To Me To Also Defend Her”
In an interview with Clay Cane on SiriusXM, Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responds to former Vice President Kamala Harris’ criticism of the Biden communications team not defending her.
CLAY CANE, HOST: So Kamala Harris’ book came out and she said the Biden administration had a huge comms team. They had Karine Jean-Pierre briefing in the press room every day. But getting anything positive about my work or any defense against untrue attacks was almost impossible. How do you respond to that? KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I think if you were to watch briefings where her name came up, you would see me defending the Vice President. Let me just first say she’s someone that I admire and I respect, and I’m glad that she wrote the book. It is her truth, and she has every right, every right, to tell her truth and to write the book. And I’m, again, have been honored to work with her. I can speak for my part in this, and I went viral many times for defending her at the podium. And my team, I can only speak for, my team also worked really hard defending her. And as a Black woman, there was that added importance to me to also defend her. And so that’s what I did. The receipts are out there of me defending her, and I’m sorry, that I really do feel sorry that she felt this way, but we did do everything that we can to defend her. Again, it is her story to tell, and she should tell that story. But I think all you have to do is watch a briefing and you’ll, where she’s mentioned, and you’ll see that I did everything possible to make sure that we talked about her record, we talked about her, we talked about her partnership with the president — and that’s something that he wanted. That is something that he wanted to make sure that we were doing that. CLAY CANE, HOST: So you don’t feel like she was set to fail? KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: I can only speak from my part of this and what I did, and I think it’s important for her to tell her story. I kind of have a parallel story that I tell. CLAY CANE, HOST: Yeah, you do. KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: So I understand it. CLAY CANE, HOST: Working in the administration. Yeah. KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. So I’m not denouncing anything that she’s saying because I felt very similarly to the way that she felt. Again, I’m just speaking to my piece of this, and what I did, and what I can easily hold myself to account to. And I hear her.
