Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has spoken out against her Gen Z successor, Karoline Leavitt, calling her recent behavior toward members of the press “inappropriate” and “deplorable.”
During an appearance on The View on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Jean-Pierre, who served under President Joe Biden, was asked about several viral exchanges between Leavitt and reporters.
Jean-Pierre, 51, first reacted to a clip of Leavitt, 28, on Fox News, where Leavitt claimed, “The Democrat party’s main constituency is Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals.”
“I have so many thoughts there,” Jean-Pierre said. “Hearing that, it’s deplorable. And I’m using that word on purpose because they don’t seem to understand — this is the Trump White House — that they don’t work for just one man. They work for the American people. It is about coming together for a common good.”
The term “deplorable” gained political significance during the 2016 presidential election, when Hillary Clinton referred to half of Donald Trump’s supporters as “a basket of deplorables.”
Next, Jean-Pierre addressed a text exchange that Leavitt posted publicly on Oct. 20. The current White House Press Secretary had shared a private message between herself and HuffPost White House correspondent S.V. Dáte, who had asked about a planned meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In his message, Dáte questioned whether Trump was “aware of the significance of Budapest” as the meeting location — a reference to the 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Russia agreed not to invade Ukraine in exchange for the country surrendering its nuclear weapons, a promise later broken.
“Who suggested Budapest?” Dáte asked.
“Your mom did,” Leavitt replied.
Dáte followed up, asking if the topic was “funny” to her.
“It’s funny to me that you actually consider yourself a journal [sic],” Leavitt shot back. “You are a far-left hack who nobody takes seriously, including your colleagues in the media — they just don’t tell you that to your face. Stop texting me your disingenuous, biased, and bull— questions.”
Jean-Pierre criticized the exchange, emphasizing that the role of White House Press Secretary “is not about doing online trolling.”
“It is an honor and a privilege to have that job and to speak on behalf of the most powerful person in the world,” she said. “And there is a level of respect for the freedom of the press — even if you disagree with them! That is what that whole back and forth, when you’re seeing a press briefing room, is about. It shows that we believe in democracy. It shows the world — not just here, but the world — that the press is going to do what they need to do to hold us accountable, and we need to do what we need to do to communicate to the American people about what we’re doing.”
Jean-Pierre accused Leavitt and the Trump administration of worsening political polarization through name-calling and personal attacks.
“I just feel like it is not appropriate to do online trolling and attack people in that way,” she said. “It doesn’t help with the partisanship that we’re seeing right now. And also, that is not what the White House is supposed to be about. It’s supposed to be about every American person, every voter, every citizen that lives in this country and participates.”
Jean-Pierre left her White House role earlier this year and has since spoken openly about her decision to move on. “It was an honor and a privilege to have the job and to have done it for two and a half years, but I don’t miss it,” she said.
She is currently promoting her book, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines, which explores her decision to step away from the Democratic Party.
“Look, for me, I’m not telling people, ‘Hey, you go become an independent,’” she told NPR. “There is a growing number of people who see themselves as independents, including young people. We have to question, why is that?”
