Joe Biden appoints Karine as 1st Black White House Press Secretary

Karine Jean-Pierre will be the new White House Press Secretary, President Joe Biden has announced, becoming the first Black and openly gay person to hold the high-profile job.

Jean-Pierre, 44, who currently serves as the White House’s principal deputy press secretary, will replace Jen Psaki, on May 13 as the face of the Biden administration.

Biden in a statement praised Jean-Pierre’s experience, talent, and integrity, saying he was proud to announce her appointment.

”Karine not only brings the experience, talent, and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people,” President Biden said in a statement.

The outgoing spokeswoman, bringing Jean-Pierre behind the podium for the traditional briefing of accredited journalists at the White House on Thursday, praised, in a voice sometimes choked with emotion, the qualities of her deputy, whom she hugged several times.

At the White House briefing on Thursday, a visibly moved Psaki invited Jean-Pierre up to the podium with her and the two women embraced as Psaki went through Jean-Pierre’s qualifications and the significance of her taking the job.

Psaki said, ”I just want to take the opportunity to celebrate and congratulate my friend, my colleague, my partner in truth, Karine Jean-Pierre, the next White House press secretary.”

”I am still processing it because, as Jen said, at the top this is a historic moment and it’s not lost on me. I understand how important it is for so many people out there. So many different communities that I stand on their shoulders,” Jean-Pierre said.

”It is an honor and a privilege to be behind this podium,” she said.

Jean-Pierre “will be the first Black woman, the first out LGBTQ+ person to serve in this role,” said Psaki, who said from the outset that she would step down during Biden’s term.

Jean-Pierre’s promotion is “amazing because representation matters and she is going to give a voice to so many and show so many what is truly possible when you work hard and dream big,” Psaki added, opting not to comment on media reports that she would be joining TV channel MSNBC after leaving the White House.

Also visibly moved, the future press secretary said, “This is a historic moment and it’s not lost on me. I understand how important it is for so many people.”

The 44-year-old Jean-Pierre, who has a daughter with her partner, a Cable News Network journalist, has already taken to the famed podium in the White House’s James S. Brady press briefing room as Psaki’s number two.

From May she would take center stage at the daily White House press conference, which is broadcast live and highly scrutinised.

Before her, only one other Black woman, Judy Smith, had been deputy White House press secretary, during George Walker Bush’s presidency in 1991.