(AURN News) — Karine Jean-Pierre says she never saw it coming.
The former White House press secretary writes in her new book, “Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,” about what she felt and experienced when former President Joe Biden announced he was ending his campaign.
“I did not know he was going to drop out,” she told AURN News. “He’s a proud Irishman who is always a fighter, even when he’s knocked down. So I assumed, okay, he’s just going to continue and push through.”
Jean-Pierre said she learned of the decision only when Biden joined a conference call with senior White House and campaign staff members.
“He came on and made the announcement, and I was pretty shocked,” she said. “I give the blow-by-blow in the book, and I think readers can feel what I was feeling in that moment.”
The former press secretary said she still aligns with Democratic values but believes the party has lost its soul.
“As a Black woman, as a Black woman who’s part of the queer community, as an immigrant, what I’m seeing from the Democratic Party is pretty disheartening,” she said.
Jean-Pierre said Democratic leaders underestimated the scope of Project 2025 and “rubber-stamped former President Donald Trump’s nominees.”
“We’re 10 months into this administration — almost 50 percent of Project 2025 is completed,” she said. “We have to take the power in D.C., in the White House, and put it in the hands of the American people.”
Looking back on her time at the podium, Jean-Pierre called the role an honor and a privilege.
“I was always truthful. I always tried to answer the questions the best way I could,” she said.
When AURN News asked about Biden’s fitness for office, she rejected speculation that she ever saw any decline.
“He aged. No one said he didn’t age. He walked slower. He spoke more softly,” she said. “But when I talked to him about my portfolio, he was sharp — he was on top of things.”
Jean-Pierre said she wrote this book after hearing from people who were scared, frightened and worried. She warned that “our democracy is hanging by a thread” and described the moment as “unprecedented.”
“We have stepped into an authoritarian regime and we have to do the work now. We won’t have a 2028 [election] if we don’t do the work now,” she said.
The former press secretary also addressed the importance of Black media at the White House. “If you watch my briefing, I went from the front all the way to the back, and that included Black journalists,” she said. “They had access to me. They had access to my team.”
Jean-Pierre said her book is “a road map for Americans on how to stay engaged and get involved.” And if she could stand at that White House podium one more time, she said her message would be simple: “In order to have a democracy that works for everyone and to make sure that our freedoms are protected, we have to work at it every day — every single day.”
Make sure you pick up your copy today.
Click play to listen to the AURN News report from Jamie Jackson:
