We all knew when Karine Jean-Pierre was promoted to White House Press Secretary that it wasn't because of her qualifications. Jean-Pierre was a blatant affirmative action hire — a distinction that her poor performance made incredibly apparent. Her press conferences featured awkward evasions and her painful-to-watch reliance on her notes to deliver answers, some of which weren't even for the questions asked.
Her predecessor, Jen Psaki was hardly impressive behind the podium either, but Jean-Pierre managed to be even less so. But she was black, a woman, the daughter of immigrants, and a lesbian, which meant that her performance wasn't really all that important. I'm sure they figured she'd eventually grow into the job and shine.
And then she didn't, and the White House brought over Pentagon spokesman Adm. John Kirby to be her babysitter. Kirby, far more competent at handling the media than Jean-Pierre ever was or has become, doesn't meet the qualifications necessary to be the face of the Biden administration to the White House Press Corps unfortunately because he's a white man.
According to an analysis of White House press briefing data by the Daily Caller, Jean-Pierre has relinquished her spot at the podium to Kirby for an "unprecedented" amount of time.
"Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Kirby has been a mainstay at briefings alongside Jean-Pierre to answer reporters’ questions about the foreign conflict," the Daily Caller reports. "Though Americans have indicated the war is not their top concern, Kirby has remained at the briefings — only missing three since the start of the year through Oct. 7. Of the briefings he has attended in 2024, 19 out of the 22 total held, Kirby has fielded questions for almost the exact same amount of time as Jean-Pierre."
That's hardly a vote of confidence for Jean-Pierre.
According to the outlet's analysis, as of the end of February, Jean-Pierre has held 22 briefings this year, accumulating about 11 hours and 31 minutes behind the podium. John Kirby has been to a total of 19 briefings, and during the briefings that he's attended, his time at the podium, around nine hours and two minutes, has been roughly equal to that of Jean-Pierre's, which was just under nine hours and 11 minutes.
Related: Biden's Top 5 Worst Affirmative Action Picks
“There is no precedent for this. Press secretaries always bring guests, right. It’s like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have the OMB [the Office of Management and Budget] guys brief you on the budget and talk to you about that.’ That’s normal,” Sean Spicer, who briefly served as Donald Trump's press secretary, told the Daily Caller. “That’s as old as the job. But this idea that you have a co-press secretary is unprecedented.”
Kirby isn't the only one who has been helping Jean-Pierre, but he has been the most frequent, and, as PJ Media previously reported, he wants her job, too. Now, obviously, he won't be getting it, but it's clear that the White House is extremely sensitive to the need for solid, competent messaging and has been relying on him to serve as a co-press secretary as Joe Biden attempts to save his presidency before the election.
“I don’t think the dynamic is awkward to begin with. I think they did it under the presence, under the guise of national security and foreign affairs. But the reality is, Kirby has really taken over a lot more, for obvious reasons,” Spicer explained. “The press secretary should be able to handle all of the issues and it’s pretty obvious that there’s a level of competence that just doesn’t exist.”
Kirby's presence at the podium won't save Joe Biden's presidency, but it tells you that the White House is leaving as little as possible to chance, and while it can't exactly get rid of Jean-Pierre because of the whole black lesbian thing, the administration has reduced her role as much as it can because it can't trust her to do the job well.
