Karine Jean-Pierre, who once served as the face of President Joe Biden’s messaging machine, is now facing sharp criticism — not from Republicans, but from her own former colleagues — after announcing she’s leaving the Democratic Party and promoting a new book that slams the very administration she once defended.
This week, Jean-Pierre made waves by declaring she’s now an independent, distancing herself from the party that gave her the national spotlight as White House Press Secretary. But that wasn’t all — she timed the announcement with the launch of her upcoming book titled:
Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines.
The book reportedly dives into the chaotic final three weeks before Biden withdrew from his 2024 re-election bid, claiming betrayal by top Democrats — a betrayal she says ultimately handed the election to former President Donald Trump. It’s a bold narrative shift coming from someone who just months ago was defending the Biden team from the White House podium.
According to Politico, the move has sparked serious backlash behind the scenes among Biden insiders and Democratic operatives — many of whom say they aren’t surprised.
“Everyone thinks this is a grift,” one former colleague bluntly told the outlet.
In private group chats filled with Biden administration alumni, the frustration has reportedly boiled over. Several former staffers, speaking anonymously, recalled Jean-Pierre making offhand jokes about being an independent while still serving in her official capacity. One insider even revealed that Jean-Pierre had been working with a New York publicist while still on the job and had copied that publicist on official White House emails — prompting others on staff to step in and stop it.
“She made a joke about being an independent last year and now it’s a book. All ideas are monetary — even the dumb ones,” another former staffer added.
While KJP paints Biden as a victim of party betrayal, some Democrats say it’s simply revisionist history meant to cash in. One long-time Democrat operative, Caitlin Legacki, argued that Biden stepping aside was necessary to avoid a total disaster for the party.
“Kamala Harris and the entire Biden/Harris campaign did hero’s work to avoid losing 400 electoral votes and giving Republicans a supermajority in Congress, which is what would have happened if he stayed on the ticket,” Legacki said. “It’s more productive to focus on that, and thank Biden for doing the responsible thing by stepping aside, than it is to pretend this was an unwarranted act of betrayal.”
Another Democrat who knew Jean-Pierre before she made it to the White House slammed her new direction even harder.
“The most grift-y thing I’ve seen in a long time, and that’s saying something in Washington,” they said.
And then came perhaps the most biting critique — aimed at what many see as KJP’s hypocrisy.
“SHE was the public face telling us all that this White House was on track and that Biden was amazing. And now she doesn’t even want to be a Democrat????” one former official wrote in a group text, clearly frustrated. “She’s making herself the middle ground here when Republicans hate her. She’s not in any position to be a connector of our two party system and assuming she could be is just ego.”
The book is set to portray Jean-Pierre as someone who’s rising above the political mess — positioning herself as a centrist voice between a fractured Democratic Party and a resurgent Republican movement. But her critics say the timing, tone, and tactics all reek of opportunism.
What remains to be seen is whether Jean-Pierre’s pivot will resonate with the American public — or if her former allies are right in accusing her of using her time in the White House as a springboard for self-promotion.
Either way, it’s a stunning departure from the team that once trusted her to speak on behalf of the president.
