Politico Reports on Karine Jean-Pierre’s ‘Tough’ Start: ‘Her Answers have Baffled Reporters’ and Made Colleagues ‘Wince’

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Politico gave a scathing review to Karine Jean-Pierre’s first month as White House Press Secretary.

In its West Wing Playbook newsletter on Wednesday, Politco reporters Max Tani, Alex Thompson and Allie Bice labeled Jean-Pierre’s first month as “rocky.”

“Her answers have baffled reporters, and even made some of her White House colleagues wince,” they wrote. “She has increasingly found herself sharing the podium or splitting briefings with JOHN KIRBY, who has been taking the lead on foreign policy and at times appears to function as a co-press secretary.”

Amid multiple issues including Ukraine, the Supreme Court overturning the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade, inflation and gun violence, Jean-Pierre’s “stumbles in several instances have made her appear underprepared — in moments quickly weaponized by the right.”

After listing a couple of examples – including not knowing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland tested positive for Covid and was with President Joe Biden a couple days beforehand — Tani, Thompson and Bice wrote:

Press secretaries can’t possibly keep tabs on every story line so it’s not unusual for them to acknowledge when they don’t know the answer and pledge to find more information after the briefing.

But that has been a more common response for Jean-Pierre in her first weeks than her predecessor. In her first 10 briefings as press secretary, Jean-Pierre said she didn’t have the information being sought 20-plus times more than predecessor JEN PSAKI in her first 10 briefings, according to a review of the transcripts by West Wing Playbook.

The Politico writers noted that White House reporters have complained about Jean-Pierre’s performance.

They wrote that “while White House reporters love to complain about non-answers from communications officials, many have privately grumbled that when Jean-Pierre does have answers, they are often vague and rarely stray from the pre-written talking points prepared in the binder at the podium.”

Jean-Pierre declined to comment, but received praise from former and current White House staffers.