Am I the only person on the right who has some sympathy for Biden’s press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre?
Here’s a criticism that’s typical of what I read about her:
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre always manages to surprise me. I used to think that Jen Psaki was the worst White House Press Secretary I’d ever seen, but Jean-Pierre has changed my opinion in short order. Her tenure has been rocky from the get-go, with her performances widely panned for her lack of preparation, dodging of questions, and frequent need to read directly from her notes.
Other times she just beclowns herself. She recently claimed that the economy is in a better position now than it has been historically.
No, really, she did.
But she really proved how bad she was during an interview with CNN this week when she said that Americans should remember how things were when Biden took office.
“We have to remember where this country was more than a year ago when he walked into office,” she told CNN’s Don Lemon.
And she thought that was a good talking point?
Thing is, there are no good talking points for Jean-Pierre to fall back on. What can she say? Granted, I certainly don’t admire her for signing on to be an apologist for and booster of a corrupt president and a party dragging the country precipitously down. But whatever her reasons – personal belief system, personal ambition, all of the above or none of the above – her job is impossible. All she can do is preach to the choir, and weakly at that.
Plus – and this is actually the reason for my relative sympathy for her – she doesn’t have the snotty snark that Psaki had, the sheer duping delight I often saw in Psaki’s affect as she lied through her teeth without hesitation or shame. I think that what is perceived as Jean-Pierre’s failings may actually represent a problem she has with being required to constantly lie with no shame whatsoever (a problem that didn’t seem to perturb Psaki at all).
Maybe I’m giving Jean-Pierre too much benefit of the doubt; probably most of you think I am. But that’s what I see in her – or at least a glimmer of it.
Yes.
Griffin:
Prove it. I bet there are at least one or two others 🙂 .
Ditto.
Not an iota of sympathy. She’s made her bed.
Neo,
Jennifer Rubin? David French? Bill Krystol?
Yes, next question.
She worked on the Obama campaigns, and a political analyst for msnbc among other gigs, so she’s been a professional liar for several decades.
No….Sympathy….at….All.
The job of The Notorious KJP is indeed an impossible one, and she is marginally less annoying than “Circle-Back Psaki”, but many conservatives find insufferable the constant accusations of “racism” which she directed at her ideological foes during her appearances on CNN and MSNBC before obtaining her current post. Had she not been so fond of spewing racialist vitriol, and were she not so clearly shielded by her identity from any real criticism (all of which, to the left, is motivated by anti-black, anti-female, anti-gay, and anti-immigrant bias), one might be less inclined to judge her harshly.
In fairness to Neo, I do a bit as well. But I’d have more if she weren’t so arrogant.
Griffin:
Obviously they don’t count. They’re not on the right.
And of course I don’t agree with her in any way. But I just don’t think she’s as comfortable with outright lying as Psaki was. Jean-Pierre seems uncomfortable to me. I don’t see her lasting as long in the job.
I have no sympathy, she lies like Psaki just so far a better demeanor but think it won’t last long as her talking points get wore out and she still gets hard questions.
I think, like VP Harris, men, white men, didn’t put her in a position to succeed., And she was too dumb to realize the ‘chance of a lifetime’ Psaki handed her was rancid meat.
I’ve noticed her discomfort as well. Maybe it is less comfort with lying or perhaps just newness on the job or both. After all, you can’t be a leftist without being comfortable with lying both to yourself and others.
But I suspect it’s another factor. My sense of Psaki is that she’s a committed ideologue.
Whereas, I suspect that deep down, Jean-Pierre is less of an ideologue and more of an ambitious opportunist.
Her protective camouflage of labeling any criticism of her as motivated by anti-black, anti-female, anti-gay, and anti-immigrant bias… is a ‘philosophical’ get out of jail card that allows her to pursue whatever heights she desires.
Young and pretty, wouldn’t she make a great VP in a President Buttigieg administration?
She’s just bad at this job whether you like her or agree with her boss or not. She is unorganized and seems to be totally unprepared for obvious questions. She looks like someone who vaguely follows politics and is then tasked with answering questions. Psaki was terrible in a different way but she did her job as it has become to be seen. Shill for the president.
Raggedy Ann was particularly loathsome in her contempt for the public. Her use of the “mom” card to buttress her lies was especially vile.
Both corrupt liars, like the Brandon.
Because she has put herself in the position of fronting for this vile regime, she gets from me the same emotional response that this vile regime evokes, a response that does not include sympathy.
“She’s uncomfortable lying?
All she has to do is present some integrity and quit.
Her heart will harden (more) and she will get glib at it.
I have no sympathy and full contempt for her.
She is the face (albeit a cute face) of a regime that seeks to imprison and destroy me and mine. To subjugate this nation.
May she suffer the fate of traitors along with the rest of that crew of pretenders.
She knew what the job was when she took it.
I agree with you 100%! Psaki is exactly like Tilda Swinton’ character is ‘Micheal Clayton’. A lot of practicing in the mirror, until it cracked.
I would agree with you, but then I suspect a good deal of your commenters think I’m not right either.
I have sympathy because prior to Jean-Pierre taking over; Michael Berry interviewed Kayleigh McEnany about her experience especially her first day, and that discussion helps remind me; these are people that just had this dream to do what they do and do it for our country. I find that respectable. I fully agree she’s much less an ass than Psaki, but I think that is a matter of time. Yet, while I have sympathy for her; she took the job and she gets better treatment than Trump’s Press Secretary’s. And she can do better.
If she were trying to be empathetic id cut her some slack, but she comes across as totally indifferent
https://nypost.com/2022/06/16/mondaire-jones-asked-to-vote-by-proxy-again-after-post-expose/
‘Diversity Hire’, not always the best choice and the goal is to hire the best person for the job. She is a total Peter Principal but out to perform Murphy’s Law. Perhaps, one more wrong person for the wrong job since there is no once who could sell the stuff, most smelly stuff, coming out of that office of the President of the USA.
I haven’t watched her at all.
In the contrast with Psaki … is it fair to say Jen is a liar and KJP is literally too stupid and too “in the bubble” for the job?
Skip on June 16, 2022 at 7:04 pm got it right.
JimNorCall:
No, I don’t think she’s stupid.
Follow the link in my post to the words “duping delight” and read it. I would say that Psaki exhibits that quality and Jean-Pierre does not. I think Psaki was a comfortable liar who enjoyed the process and Jean-Pierre is not and does not.
Honestly, I haven’t heard/watched her; but, I’ll opine anyway . . .
I don’t care if it is Dem or Rep there is NO reason for a press sec to lie. period.
So, if she is in fact lying then I have zero sympathy for her.
Psaki cured me of my attraction to red heads, so she had that going for her. Jean-Pierre, OTOH, is learning a basic life lesson: if you don’t know how to do a job, just say no when it is offered. Genius may triumph, normal people just embarrass themselves.
Sure, a person can’t consider themselves as a decent, progressive (small ‘P’) human if they can’t find a shred of sympathy for someone that is clearly struggling with competency in a difficult role.
But you don’t respect your intellect if you should start emoting sympathy and conciliation before considering what your position would be if the roles were reversed. How much sympathy would you be expecting? How much consideration would one expect to receive, how much polite, civilized deference? I still remember the Trump years very well, thank you. They’ll get the forbearance and mercy they’re entitled to, from me: Less than zero, in the same spirit of fair-dealing they espouse and embrace and hand out, every day, when they think they’re winning.
The difference with Kaliegh was that she had already flipped to the proper tab before the questioner finished. She was familiar with the material and only needed to glance at it to answer. It’s a skill. It can be learned. But this gal cut her teeth on softballs from MSNBC hosts. Peter Doocy can tie a spokesgal up in knots if she’s not prepared to answer, or in Jen’s case, lie lie and lie.
As for sympathy, she walked in with zero goodwill toward the right. Folks get a little tired of being called racist, you know? But now the lefty reporters are starting to ask hard questions, and no one has her back.
Is she uncomfortable about the lying or just that she’s not good at the job?
I can’t find sympathy for someone who not only is part of this ongoing catastrophe but “achieved” her position through the rankest confluence of identity politics. But as the Biden administration careens off the cliff I suspect at some point she will be thrown under the bus as a scapegoat for someone far more deserving.
Will *that* elicit some sympathy? Perhaps, along the lines of “the world’s tiniest violin”. She is a very small bit player but she is still a player.
Clearly she’s in over her head just like VP Harris. One dimensional and can’t think on her feet. Psaki was obnoxious but at least she spun yarns well.
Too important a job to tolerate incompetence.
I was often distressed by Trump’s various picks for the plethora of White House & supporting roles…but his Press Secretary choices were always spot on.
Psaki & KJP…they earn the venom they receive.
Psaki the inveterate liar & black-gay-pixie Jean-Pierre…spit!
DJT “Everything woke turns to shit.”
I didn’t see much about her, but I feel the same. Probably the comparison with Psaki – a truly despicable person – plays a role here, but she seems more human, less ideology-driven on the behavioral side.
I’m pretty sure she does her best to align with all the leftist bandwagon, and certainly is ready to enforce any crazy policy fitting the narrative, but an inner conscience transpires from time to time, while Psaki was the full-fledged apparatchik, of the mean kind.
No sympathy whatsoever.
“black-gay-pixie Jean-Pierre…”
Day 1: she announced those traits plus “immigrant” as her source of pride. As if those are earned.
That shocked me, though
nowadays, it shouldn’t. I found it nauseating to so boldly announce her tribe.
Felt like a “You can’t touch me — I’m special!” stamp that she’s very accustomed to using.
She can seem less mean than Psaki, still.
I’ve wondered if she will continue being obvious about reading answers to make obvious that she’s just doing her job. A proactive defense?
I forget which of Trump’s press secretaries decided to just stop holding press briefings altogether. She had the right idea. If Psaki is an example of doing the job “right,” then the whole charade of executive branch press briefings is worse than worthless.
If we could have briefings where both the press and the press secretary were permitted to admit facts against interest, it might be worthwhile. What we have now is just political kabuki.
Just thinking out loud here, but would you feel the same sympathy for the affirmative action pilot who crashed the plane on which you were a passenger? How about the AA surgeon who botched your medical treatment? Or the AA lawyer who lost your “can’t lose” lawsuit? Your sympathies extend that far? Because that is precisely where we are headed with attitudes like yours. Idiocracy, here we come.
If there’s a decent human being among Democrats in elective office, or on the bench, or holding patronage jobs, I haven’t a clue who that is. It seems to me that the decent people in the Democratic Party are on the margins socially and sometimes geographically as well. There are only one or two cabinet secretaries who don’t seem like they’re somewhere on the spectrum which runs from useless to malicious.
And there is no meritocracy. Supposedly Ron Klain is ‘brilliant’. He spent 13 years on the patronage of Democratic politicians followed by 15 years in law jobs which look suspiciously like slots for people with political connections. (One of his assignments in one of those positions was to lobby for Fannie Mae). He’s a consigliere for people who may or may not accomplish something, not someone accomplished himself. He’s an exemplar of rent-seeking.
Late to the party, but zero sympathy from me. Sure, she’s shill for Brandon as anyone in that job is expected to be. But, she can’t even do the job. Just watch day after day as questions come in and she, in a slight panic, desperately searches her “life jacket” binder for a response. And then, with eyes totally cast down reads directly a response, that has been shown many times in numerous clips, doesn’t even come close to the topic the question was about. In other words she’s so incompetent she can’t even find the right response in the binder to the question asked.
Raggedy Ann was snark personified, but you have to give her props for at least doing the job: professional liar and spinor.
Jean-Pierre is just very bad at her job. I agree that she appears uncomfortable but I don’t think that discomfort has to do with any qualms she has about lying but about her knowing that she is out of her depth. Yes, Psaki was snarky and annoying but she projected confidence. Jean-Pierre projects weakness and vulnerability.
Psaki enjoyed toying with a docile media, knowing that they dare not push back too hard on her lies. I think she particularly enjoyed her confrontations with Peter Doocy, whom she treated with a snotty condescension, as if he were a reporter for a high school paper.
Jean-Pierre just looks intimidated and unsure of herself, which I think is the reason for feeling sorry for her. I agree that she is not long for this job. She does not look like she is enjoying herself.
“Bad apples” always rely on their army of useful idiots to carry out and/or explain their dirty work.
There never is a shortage of these useful idiots.
I have nothing but contempt for Bidet’s press secretaries – past or present – because they are one of many of Bidet’s “willing executioners.” And they deserve our contempt because they know damn well when they are lying. But lie they will , just to defend their boss.
They really are no different than “Bagdad Bob,” Saddam Hussein’s propagandist in chief or Joseph Goebbels or those propagandists that did their best to support FDR’s good pal, “Uncle Joe Stalin.”
But then again, the entire media in the USA is nothing more than the propaganda arm of the demonkrats.
It’s easy to support any and all policies when you yourself are exempt or immune, because of your political power or socio-economic standing , from the consequences of these same policies.
Psaki is a skilled and shameless BS artist.
KJP should seek employment as some MSM lefty’s blundering sidekick.
Ron Nessen (once a reporter for NBC, later president of Mutual Broadcasting) was once asked if he’d ever lied to a reporter during his years as Gerald Ford’s press secretary. He said he’d misled reporters several times. The White House had arranged over the years some pseudo-events (e.g. a ‘community leaders conference’) which were scheduled in time and place near golf tournaments. Gerald Ford could then ‘take time out’ from the event to go play golf. Nessen admitted he didn’t tell reporters that the civic events were trumpery. That’s what counted as ‘lying to the media’ in 1976. Nessen was born in 1934, Psaki in 1978. It’s been a long and bumpy ride down over those 1.5 generations.
If she feels compromised she can quit.
I have no sympathy for her.
She is pure cannon fodder, nominally immunized by her skin color. Best wishes to her, and hope her future rewards are great.
No, I don’t think she’s stupid.
What’s needed is a redefinition of stupid. Or a broader definition. The fact is, plenty of smart people are also stupid. You know what I mean.
chip kirby, (I dubbed him after kevin bacon’s character,) will fill in if needed,
‘Diversity Hire’, not always the best choice and the goal is to hire the best person for the job. — OldTexan
Virtually all of these frontline Biden admin. people are diversity or identity politics hires. Most of them are amazingly unqualified or inexperienced in the their supposed field of operation. But they all have significant experience in front of a camera, including KJP.
However, contrast the difference between say a Sec. Granholm and KJP. Granholm merely has to bluff her way through a few questions about gas and diesel prices and drilling leases and she’s done. KJP has to have a breadth of familiarity of everything the admin. is touching, plus the hot-button news items of the day. A book of information is almost completely useless in that environment, unless you need an exact quote or bit of info., and you know exactly what page it is on.
This amounts to KJP not being up to the job as others have mentioned. I imagine it can be learned if one is willing to put in a great deal of effort. I’ll bet Psaki put in some relatively long hours studying, unlike a Granholm.
I like Neo’s little “duping delight” piece. The second half of that is similar to what I had previously called the “con-artist mentality.” The con-person may feel a thrill or satisfaction when the mark is robbed and punished financially.
No, I don’t have sympathy for her. She took the job, and she can’t handle it. The only cause for sympathy would be if she didn’t entirely realize how incompetent the boss is before she took the job. The best I can say, as others here have said, is that she’s not comfortable with being a snarky liar, like Psaki.
I don’t think the culture is improved when someone who finds herself in a job she can’t perform with honor sticks around looking uncomfortable instead of resigning.
No sympathy. She’s not chained to her podium.
Catbert has it right:
“Clearly she’s in over her head just like VP Harris. One dimensional and can’t think on her feet. Psaki was obnoxious but at least she spun yarns well.”
The discomfort comes not from lying, but from not being knowledgeable and in control of the material, not being able to wing it as well as Psaki could. Her one asset: She reads well.
Having sympathy for Karine Jean-Pierre is like Churchill’s having the highest possible opinion of Hitler…that he was a dirty little guttersnipe….
“Her one asset: She reads well.”
JanMN, you forgot that she has 3 other assets: she’s black, a lesbian, and an immigrant. That’s all that’s needed for this WH.
I have a hard enough time feeling any humanity toward the mush heads who voted against mean tweets. Somebody actively promoting the program is…..
professional liar and spinor
Spinors are great, spinners not so much.
She is having a difficult time lying for Biden’s ineptness. She does not believe what she is forced to say. You can see it on her face.
She’s loathesome, just in a different way than we’re used to.
“She is having a difficult time lying for Biden’s ineptness. She does not believe what she is forced to say. You can see it on her face.” – Larry1984
I think she really believes the answer to every question is– “you’re Racist!”
Racist, to a left wing fascist is a category. Inside that includes anti-gay, homophobic, science denier, climate denier, anti-trans, etc.
She’s in fierce competition with Yamiche Alcindor for most clueless media clown.
I feel the same kind of “sympathy” as when I’m at a piano or other musical recital and the recitalist is struggling — an embarrassment for the person — and a desire to get out of the room ASAP!
Watt:
Definitely a feeling akin to that.
Nope.
Standard check-the-affirmative-action-boxes Jew hater.
I do kinda feel sorry for her. I’m not that happy about that but alas it is what it is…
She just doesn’t lie well enough.
She doesn’t have the flair, the panache, the elan, the bravado.
The balls.
(Does Psaki give tutorials? Workshops? If so, that’s the ticket.)
No doubt, in time, KJP will get the hang of it. I’m certain she has what it takes.
I hope she does soon because I don’t know for how much longer I’ll be able to do this….
Her problem is that she’s not smart enough to learn her lies (oops lines). Her constant reference back to the script makes for very poor acting.
For what it’s worth, in my area of the US-
The TV news people, + the internet news reporters, don’t cover KJP, at ALL, or, [they don’t cover her, much at all].
Maybe the reporters in my locale (sp?) thought that showing Psaki: telling fibs, + doing “arguing with the conservatives”, and “arguing with the Republicans”, was much more fun to watch.
Who knows?