Karine’s tough debut

Jun 29, 2022 View in browser   By Max Tani, Alex Thompson and Allie Bice Welcome to POLITICO's West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Max It's been a rocky first month for White House press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE. Her answers have baffled reporters, and even made some of her White House colleagues wince. She has increasingly found herself sharing the podium or splitting briefings with JOHN KIRBY, who has been taking the lead on foreign policy and at times appears to function as a co-press secretary. And Republicans have zeroed in on her as a useful punching bag. Jean-Pierre officially took the podium in May, becoming the first Black and openly LGBTQ woman to hold a position long dominated by white men and women. She signed on as the administration faced a national infant formula shortage, the overturning of Roe v. Wade , soaring inflation and high gas prices, the ongoing war in Ukraine, gun violence, and bad poll numbers for the president. Against such a difficult backdrop, her stumbles in several instances have made her appear underprepared — in moments quickly weaponized by the right. She was unaware that Interior Secretary DEB HAALAND had tested positive for Covid and didn't know Biden had been with Haaland two days before at a Memorial Day event. "Oh, were they?" she said, to which the reporter pointedly noted pictures of the pair. And when asked that day about the president telling Naval Academy graduates that he had been appointed to the academy in 1965 — a claim met with skepticism — Jean Pierre said: "I didn't hear that part of the speech." Reporters were confused by her refusal to answer questions at a recent briefing about the last time the president had been tested for Covid-19, something her predecessor regularly disclosed. (He tested negative, senior officials later told NBC News.) Press secretaries can't possibly keep tabs on every story line so it's not unusual for them to acknowledge when they don't know the answer and pledge to find more information after the briefing. But that has been a more common response for Jean-Pierre in her first weeks than her predecessor. In her first 10 briefings as press secretary, Jean-Pierre said she didn't have the information being sought 20-plus times more than predecessor JEN PSAKI in her first 10 briefings, according to a review of the transcripts by West Wing Playbook. And while White House reporters love to complain about non-answers from communications officials, many have privately grumbled that when Jean-Pierre does have answers, they are often vague and rarely stray from the pre-written talking points prepared in the binder at the podium. "At a certain point it wouldn't surprise me if people started voting with their feet," one White House reporter told POLITICO, predicting the lack of news from the briefings could result in waning attendance of reporters. "She is so focused on not making a mistake that she doesn't let herself speak freely," another reporter said. "A lot of her responses end up becoming… it appears that she's reading from a page." Through the White House, Jean-Pierre declined a request to be interviewed. But numerous current and former White House comms staffers and outside allies told West Wing Playbook Jean-Pierre deserves praise for her first month on the job. They described her as quick and decisive behind the scenes, crafting the White House responses to national tragedies such as the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Several noted her political experience will be a boon to the administration as midterms draw closer. And another official said that Jean-Pierre has given the administration someone who could speak authoritatively about issues affecting Black women, which was particularly helpful following the reversal of Roe. "She's here precisely because of her respect for the indispensable role of the free press in our democracy," deputy White House press secretary ANDREW BATES said in a statement to West Wing Playbook. "She is proud of her briefings — which often run longer than the modern average and have included multiple Saturday gaggles. She loves the back and forth with the White House press corps, and her door is always open for any feedback its members are interested in giving directly." A Democratic congressional source told West Wing Playbook that the press secretary regularly solicits advice and counsel from Democrats across Washington, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus. "She brings to the Brady Briefing Room a unique perspective that is important in helping to shape and tell the story of this President and his administration," said the CBC chairwoman, Rep. JOYCE BEATTY, (D-Ohio), in a statement. Some White House officials dismissed the idea that Jean-Pierre leans too much on the briefing books, or fears going off script. "They would grumble regardless of who is at the podium and find ways of critiquing those individuals," one senior White House official said of reporters' complaints. Another official said of Jean-Pierre's deferral of questions: "Singling her out like this is nonsensical. The alternative is the Trump model of outright lying and making things up on the spot — is that honestly critics' preference?" The senior official declined to put their name on the statement. Some Black communications officials in and outside the administration, along with allies of Jean-Pierre, feel White House leadership has set her up to fail by having Kirby, a white man who was in the running for her job, hovering nearby and taking the lead on foreign policy. Jean-Pierre's job has also been made more difficult because the White House has yet to name a principal deputy press secretary, the job she previously held. One person with knowledge about the discussions told West Wing Playbook that the White House has considered an outside Democratic comms official for the role, though an administration official noted the Biden White House has a policy of considering outside candidates for every role in a bid to increase diversity. During her early days as deputy White House press secretary, Jean-Pierre sought advice from a number of former Democratic White House press secretaries and senior officials about handling gaggles she held with reporters as well as press briefings. MINYON MOORE , a former top Clinton White House political aide and chief operating officer of the Democratic National Committee, said she has on occasion offered advice to Jean-Pierre about the job, and said that she has observed her improvements in her first month. "I also said to her: Do not let the noise get in your head, it can be a confidence crusher," Moore recalled. "You take criticism well — which she does — and use it as a benchmark to [improve]. And everytime you course correct and do something better, you have to applaud yourself in this business." Our video team put together a compilation of some of the moments below: Karine Jean-Pierre | POLITICO TEXT US — Are you JONATHAN HEBERT, the recently departed White House video director? We want to hear from you! And we'll keep you anonymous if you'd like.  Or if you think we missed something in today's edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr Alex at 8183240098.   STAY UP TO DATE WITH CONGRESS MINUTES: Need to follow the action on Capitol Hill blow-by-blow? Check out Minutes, POLITICO's new platform that delivers the latest exclusives, twists and much more in real time. Get it on your desktop or download the POLITICO mobile app for iOS or Android. CHECK OUT CONGRESS MINUTES HERE.     POTUS PUZZLER This one is from reader JON PREVO. On the topic of eclectic presidential pets, which president was gifted two lions from South Africa? Bonus points if you know the unusual names the president gave the lions. (Answer at the bottom) The Oval 2024 CHATTER: On Monday, Vice President KAMALA HARRIS told CNN that "Joe Biden is running for reelection, and I will be his ticket mate. Full stop." Today, however, aboard Air Force Two, her advisers told reporters the veep wanted to clarify her remarks. Harris came back to the reporters and was less definitive about Biden running. "The president intends to run and if he does, I will be his ticket mate. We will run together," she said. The L.A. Times headline afterward was "Vice President Harris creates new uncertainty about Biden's plans for reelection" but it's possible the clarification was for election law reasons. RELATED: In our interview yesterday with former Sen. DOUG JONES (D-Ala.), a longtime Biden ally, we also asked whether Biden was going to run in 2024. We didn't include the response yesterday since the top was about Jan. 6th, but we found it interesting. "All I know is the president says he is running. I take him at his word. If he runs, I think he will win," he said. He expressed frustration with fellow Democrats who want to "bash the administration for this or for that without realizing that it doesn't matter whether Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee in 2024 or someone else. This administration's success will have a huge impact on whether or not the Democratic nominee in 2024 has even a chance of success." FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: The digital strategy office at the White House has lost six of its 20-person staff — roughly a third — since March, DANIEL LIPPMAN reports. (Follow him here!) In the last few weeks alone, the departures have included deputy digital strategy director REBECCA RINKEVICH, deputy platforms director BRENDAN COHEN (who focused on Biden's tweets and managed his Facebook and Instagram accounts) and platforms manager LAURA FLORES, multiple people familiar with their departures told Lippman. To replace Cohen, AVERY WHITEHEAD recently joined from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she was digital strategist, and the White House has also recently hired Instagram and BuzzFeed alum ANGELA KRASNICK to be its new director of platforms, and MEENA YI, who was vice president of creative at the progressive digital agency Authentic, as its new creative director. "This is natural turnover for this point in any Administration, especially because the majority of people who've left the digital team have been with President Biden since the primary," a White House official said when asked for comment. "We are making progress filling the open roles." BRING IN THE REINFORCEMENTS: Speaking at NATO's annual summit in Madrid, Biden said he plans to send more destroyers and air defense systems to Ukraine as the Russian invasion drags on. The administration also plans to redeploy troops further east in the coming months, he said. "I said Putin's looking for the Finlandization of Europe," Biden said. "He's going to get the NATOization of Europe. And that is exactly what he didn't want, but exactly what needs to be done to guarantee security for Europe. And I think it's necessary." Our PAUL MCLEARY has more details.  Agenda Setting GETTING AHEAD OF THE CURVE: The FDA's vaccine advisers today recommended that the agency authorize updated Covid-19 booster shots that target the Omicron variant ahead of the fall, when an uptick is expected, our LAUREN GARDNER reports. The independent advisory committee backed a booster that would target the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of the virus that are currently dominating infections in the country. THE BUREAUCRATS DIRE OUTLOOK: Director of National Intelligence AVRIL HAINES said today of Russia's war on Ukraine : "In short, the picture remains pretty grim." She added: "We continue to be in a position where we look at President Putin and we think he has effectively the same political goals that we had previously, which is to say that he wants to take most of Ukraine."   DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED:  Technology is always evolving, and our tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today.     What We're Reading Democrats Weigh Paring Biden Tax Hike to Win Over Manchin (Bloomberg's Laura Davison, Erik Wasson and Ari Natter) Biden unlikely to meet bold Democrat demands after abortion ruling, sources say (Reuters' Nandita Bose and Trevor Hunnicutt) POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER President CALVIN COOLIDGE received twin lion cubs from South Africa. Fittingly, Coolidge — who was not exactly Mr. Cool — named them "Budget Bureau" and "Tax Reduction." Yes, really. Author AMITY SHLAES , who wrote a Coolidge biography, said what the president "liked about the lion cubs was that they were the same weight — they were twins. And he fed them even-steven. … He didn't want one big, fat cat and one runt," according to The Carolina Journal. Tweet by the National Zoo | Twitter A CALL OUT — Think you have a more difficult trivia question? Send us your best on the presidents with a citation and we may feature it. Edited by Eun Kyung Kim.   Follow us on Twitter Alex Thompson @AlexThomp Maxwell Tani @maxwelltani Allie Bice @alliebice   Follow us

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