Politico Claims White House Aides Are Sabotaging Karine Jean-Pierre’s Chances of Replacing Jen Psaki
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Politico Claims that White House Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is being sabotaged by aides trying to prevent her from succeeding current Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
Psaki touched off heated speculation when she told David Axelrod, last week, that she had always envisioned serving in the role for roughly a year, and that “I think it’s going to be time for somebody else to have this job, in a year from now or about a year from now.”
And so it was that Politico’s West Wing Playbook newsletter published an item gaming out potential Psaki psuccessors that included a detail that’s disturbing on a number of levels, if true. The piece claims that multiple administration aides have been “flagging” negative moments for months:
As the principal deputy press secretary, KARINE JEAN-PIERRE is seen internally and externally as next in line. That’s one reason some White House and administration aides have been flagging Jean-Pierre’s slip-ups to us over the first few months, like when she declared that the White House supported Ukraine’s admittance into NATO. (The transcript later included a strike-through of that part of her answer). Some of those same aides were also critical of Jean-Pierre’s TV hits during the campaign when she transitioned from being a pundit to a spokesperson for Biden.
Jean-Pierre did not respond to questions.
Psaki told the newsletter that Jean-Pierre is an “invaluable partner” who will be taking the podium for the first time in the near future, and that “That’s what we are focused on in the press office — not overeager background sniping. But as I have told the team, they are not getting rid of me for a long while.”
This sort of “flagging” — always done off the record and not reportable even with the vague attribution that Playbook used — would be considered a deep betrayal of a colleague, but also a deep betrayal of a White House that, as Psaki indicated, disdains this sort of palace intrigue. That Playbook decided to burn the flaggers could become problematic for whomever is trying to kneecap KJP.
As for the Psaki Psweepstakes, I have a terrible track record in predicting press secretary replacements, but based on the state of play and the raft of qualified candidates, my best guess is that it will either be Jean-Pierre or Symone Sanders, Senior Adviser and Chief Spokesperson for Vice President Kamala Harris. — and I believe it’ll be Sanders’ job to take or leave.
The fact is that VP Harris has a rock-solid partnership with President Joe Biden that deepens with every day of this presidency, and if she wanted Symone Sanders to succeed Psaki — especially after another year under her belt in a senior role — Biden would be unlikely to deny her.
But proximity to the vice president in this administration carries added gravity, so Sanders and/or Harris might just decide that a move within the VP’s orbit is preferable. And in an administration that has valued and pioneered representation, it would be a tall order to pass over a qualified Black woman candidate like Jean-Pierre.
