Karine Jean-Pierre reveals her mother’s cancer diagnosis and why she kept it a secret

Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave a look at the Americans behind the podium in a story Vanity Fair piece published on Tuesday.

Jean-Pierre, who chose to keep her personal life private while serving in the Biden-Harris administration, revealed a private health battle that took a significant toll on her and her family.

Jean-Pierre recalled attend the Bidens’ first state dinner in December 2022, saying it was “the first time the administration felt a dinner was safe to host since the pandemic began.” That evening Jean-Pierre was accompanied by his mother, who told him it was “the happiest day of my life”.

The state dinner was the last time Jean-Pierre “recognized my mother as the woman I grew up with.” Unfortunately, things changed and just a couple of months later, her mother was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer. Jean-Pierre discovered his mother was ill while visiting Poland with then-President Joe Biden.

“My mother has always been a private person. When she finally accepted the reality, she told me: ‘Don’t tell anyone. Don’t tell the president that I have cancer,'” the former press chief wrote.

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Biden was allegedly “one of the few people in the White House” that he knew what Jean-Pierre’s mother was going through. Jean-Pierre said Biden “showed up for me” during the difficult time.

While navigating his mother’s care along with his siblings, Jean-Pierre drove to New York “every weekend that I could see my mother,” only to return late at night to catch “a few hours of sleep.” before heading to the White House.

Despite playing a very public role in the Biden-Harris administration with her “second full-time job” coordinating her mother’s care, Jean-Pierre explained that being a “private person” is just one of the reasons why he did not. make his mother’s cancer battle public. The former press chief said she was also laboring under the “weight” of being the “first”.

“I am the first black press secretary. The first person of color press secretary. The first openly queer press secretary. The first Haitian American immigrant press secretary. The first press secretary to be all of the above. Be the first meant that my Responsibilities were beyond those of the job description, the heaviest burden I have a certain responsibility to the communities I represent,” Jean-Pierre wrote.

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Jean-Pierre also stated that she believed sharing her mother’s diagnosis would have been seen “as an excuse” because “society doesn’t allow women of color to be vulnerable at work. When you’re the first, you don’t get the benefit of the doubt”.

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During his time in the White House briefing room, Jean-Pierre faced criticism for a series of embarrassing and controversial moments.

In one of his most infamous moments, Jean-Pierre accused the media and others of making “cheap fakes” that made Biden “seem particularly fragile or mentally confused.” As the American people questioned whether the Commander-in-Chief was capable of carrying out the duties of his office, Jean-Pierre turned the gas on them by attributing it to “disinformation” and “disinformation.”

After Biden spoke out against Georgia’s voting laws, dubbing them “Jim Crow 2.0,” Jean-Pierre raised eyebrows with his claim that “high turnout and voter suppression can happen in same time”.

Jean-Pierre was also tasked with pushing back on denials of the possibility of the president pardoning his son, Hunter Biden. Once the president issued the pardon to his son, despite having repeatedly sworn not to do so, Jean-Pierre explained the pivot by saying that “circumstances have changed”. He also blamed then-President-elect Trump, saying the president was trying to protect his son from Republican “retribution.”

In May 2022, Jean-Pierre took over from his predecessor Jen Psaki, who served as Biden’s press secretary for nearly a year and a half. As he handed over the reins to Jean-Pierre, Psaki called his successor a “remarkable person” before listing his qualifications for the position.