Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is offering a sharp critique of the American political landscape, specifically targeting the two-party system and the Democratic leadership, in her new book, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines.
Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Monday night, the former political adviser to President Joe Biden asserted that the two-party system “is not working,” and accused the Democrats of lacking “teeth” or “fight” in the current political climate.
Jean-Pierre, who served as the first Black woman and openly queer person to hold the role of White House Press Secretary, revealed her decision to leave the Democratic Party earlier this year, after Donald Trump took office.
She told Colbert that her motivation for writing the book and sharing her political evolution came from interactions with the public. “When I left the administration this year I was just minding my business… and people would come up to me in tears and say ‘What’s happening? Why is the Democratic leadership not fighting? We need more, how are we going to get out of this?”
The book, released on October 21st, outlines what Jean-Pierre calls a “road map” for engagement outside of the established party lines. “I talk about that in the book and that’s what created for me an opportunity, as a private citizen now, to say okay, how do we focus on where we are today, how do we move forward, and what’s a road map that people can follow to get engaged?” she explained.
Jean-Pierre wrote that the Democratic Party had previously “defined my life, my career,” but her loyalty was shattered after President Biden announced he would be dropping out of the presidential race, replaced by Kamala Harris. She recalled witnessing the party unleash a “firing squad” on Biden following a debate against Donald Trump.
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This culminated in her decision to become an independent. “Now the cloud of unease hovering over me solidified into an idea about how I could possibly do something different… ‘You know what? I’m going to become an independent. I don’t think I can stomach being in the Democratic Party anymore,” she wrote.
Jean-Pierre first revealed she was leaving the Democratic Party in June while promoting the book, positioning her work as a guide for citizens looking to channel disappointment into “concrete action” without giving “blind loyalty to a party I felt no longer deserved it.”
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