Karine Jean-Pierre has experienced a series of embarrassing and even controversial moments during her two and a half years as White House press secretary.
In May 2022, Jean-Pierre succeeded Jen Psaki as press secretary, becoming the first openly gay black woman to hold the position. Although she was touted as a historical figure, her time as press secretary was ultimately made more memorable by clashes with reporters, retracted statements and dodging tough questions.
On Wednesday, she addressed the media for the last time after more than 300 briefings.
Here are some of Jean-Pierre's most memorable moments as press secretary:
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answers questions during the daily briefing in Washington, DC, July 24, 2023. (Wyn McNamee/Getty Images)
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Before joining the Biden White House, Jean-Pierre claimed on Twitter that the 2016 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump and that the 2018 election was stolen from him by Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
In September 2022, Fox News' Peter Doocy pressed a White House spokesperson to explain why "MAGA Republicans" faced so much criticism for claiming the 2020 election was stolen, while she and other Democrats Other elections are in doubt.
"You tweeted in 2016 that the election was stolen from Trump," Ducey began.
"Oh, I knew it would be like this," interrupted Jean-Pierre. "Peter, I've been waiting for you to ask me this."
"Okay, let's do it," Ducey replied. "You tweeted that Trump stole an election. You tweeted that Brian Kemp stole an election. If denying the election results is extreme now, why wasn't it then?"
"Let's be clear: The comparison you just made is ridiculous," Jean-Pierre said, adding that she was speaking specifically about voting rights.
"Governor Kemp won the election in Georgia. I've made that clear," she continued. "I said President Trump won the 2016 election, I've made that clear. What we're talking about now is, let's not forget, what happened on January 6, 2021. We saw a An insurrection, a mob, this was instigated by the occupiers (the White House)...This is an attack on our democracy."
In October 2022, when asked about Georgia midterm election turnout, Jean-Pierre raised eyebrows by claiming that "voter suppression" and "high turnout" could occur simultaneously. She made the remarks at a news conference when a reporter asked her about Biden's suggestion that Georgia's voting laws resembled "Jim Crow 2.0" as the state saw record early voting rates.
"Of course, more broadly, high turnout and voter suppression can certainly happen at the same time," Jean-Pierre said. "They don't have to be, they don't have to happen separately. They can happen at the same time."
In June 2023, the House Ways and Means Committee released testimony from IRS whistleblowers who alleged misconduct in the handling of the tax investigation of Biden's son Hunter. One of the findings was that Hunter Biden used his father to send a WhatsApp text message to a Chinese business partner, which Republicans said was part of an illegal scheme.
Reporters from CNN, the New York Times, the New York Post, Newsmax and NBC News pressed Jean-Pierre about the allegations, but the press secretary refused to answer.
"I'm just not going to get involved in family discussions, personal family discussions," Jean-Pierre initially responded. "As you know, Hunter is his son. I'm just not going to get into that."
After repeated questioning of the whistleblower's testimony, Jean-Pierre appeared to grow angrier at New York Post reporter Steven Nelson.
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"Steven, Steven, I just answered the question." She replied seriously. "How I answer that question is not up to you. I'm just answering it by telling you that my White House Counsel colleagues have taken up this issue and I would refer you to them."
Jean-Pierre also said she did not plan to discuss the matter with the president.
In June, about a month before Biden dropped out of the race, several videos went viral showing the president wandering aimlessly and looking frail, reigniting concerns about his age.
In response to the questions, Jean-Pierre called them "a series of videos that were edited to make the president appear particularly weak or mentally disturbed" and labeled them "cheap fakes," which she added The words, attributed to The Washington Post, "spread misinformation, disinformation."
"It tells you everything we need to know about how desperate Republicans are," Jean-Pierre said. "We're not talking about the president's performance in office, I mean his legislative victories, his service to the country. What Americans everywhere are doing, but these deepfake videos, these manipulated videos, are done out of spite.”
With just weeks left in his presidency, Biden surprised both parties by pardoning his son after insisting he would not do so.
Jean-Pierre repeatedly said from the podium that while conviction was increasingly likely, a pardon was not on the table. Days after Hunter Biden was pardoned in December, she was questioned about her comments.
"You were asked about the president pardoning his son, and you said, 'It's a no. It's going to be a no. It's a no,'" AP White House correspondent Zeke Miller recounting Jean-Pierre's statement Shi said.
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"When you look at the statement, you see it's quite comprehensive," Jean-Pierre said, referring to Biden's full statement justifying the pardon, adding that "things have changed."
Miller pushed back on that answer, reminding her of her commitments as press secretary.
"In your first briefing as press secretary, you promised to speak 'with transparency, truthfulness, and honesty,'" Miller told Jean-Pierre.
Fox News' Brian Flood, Anders Hagstrom and Peter Doocy contributed to this report.