Karine Jean-Pierre – Photo: Rhododendrites, via Wikimedia
Karine Jean-Pierre, an out lesbian and longtime Democratic activist who served as a senior advisor to the Joe Biden presidential campaign and chief of staff to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, has been named as the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary for the incoming Biden-Harris administration.
Jean-Pierre, a veteran of the Obama White House, who also worked for the progressive website MoveOn.org and various political campaigns, will be the highest-ranking Black woman to have ever held her position.
She will be part of an all-female White House communications team that includes White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, another Obama administration veteran who previously served as White House Deputy Press Secretary, White House Deputy Communications Director, and White House Communications Director; Kate Bedingfield, a veteran of the Biden campaign who will be the new White House Communications Director; and Pili Tobar, the new White House Deputy Communications Director.
Other members of the communications team include Symone Sanders, a Biden campaign senior advisor who will now serve as senior advisor and chief spokesperson for the Office of the Vice President; Ashley Etienne, the soon-to-be communications director for the Office of the Vice President; and Elizabeth Alexander, the communication director for First Lady Jill Biden.
Jean-Pierre offered praise for her fellow communications team colleagues on Twitter.
“I’m so proud that our communications team for the Biden-Harris administration is a roster filled w/ rockstar women,” she tweeted. “All will bring dignity, professionalism and expertise to their respective roles!”
I’m so proud that our communications team for the Biden-Harris administration is a roster filled w/ rockstar women: @jrpsaki, @KBeds, @SymoneDSanders, @AshleyEtienne09@EAlexander, @pilitobar87 All will bring dignity, professionalism and expertise to their respective roles!
Incoming White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain praised the seven women, saying their appointments embody the president-elect’s “commitment to a diverse administration where the voices of all Americans are represented.”
“Communicating directly and truthfully to the American people is one of the most important duties of a President, and this team will be entrusted with the tremendous responsibility of connecting the American people to the White House,” Biden said in a statement announcing the appointments. “I am proud to announce today the first senior White House communications team comprised entirely of women. These qualified, experienced communicators bring diverse perspectives to their work and a shared commitment to building this country back better.”
“Our country is facing unprecedented challenges–from the coronavirus pandemic to the economic crisis, to the climate crisis, and a long-overdue reckoning over racial injustice,” Harris added in her own statement. “To overcome these challenges, we need to communicate clearly, honestly, and transparently with the American people, and this experienced, talented, and barrier-shattering team will help us do that.”
Back in May, just after our 31st anniversary, I asked readers which of four classic cover interviews from our early years they'd like to see in print again: Greg Louganis (March 9, 1995), Sir Ian McKellen (Jan. 25, 1996), Camille Paglia (Feb. 1, 1996), or Eartha Kitt (Nov. 14, 1996). None of these conversations exist online, and they haven't been seen since their original print dates.
Out of more than 200 responses, 8% chose Paglia, 27% picked Louganis, 29% went for McKellen, and an impressive 36% cast their vote for Kitt.
Kitt, who passed away in December 2008, seemed a fitting choice to revisit. A pop culture icon for her turn as the second Catwoman (following Julie Newmar) on the late-1960s, camp-classic TV series Batman, she was slated to appear at Washington's legendary jazz nightclub Blues Alley when we spoke.
If you’ve been on social media this summer, those five words have been almost inescapable. Originally part of a British budget airline ad, featuring Jess Glynne singing a snippet of her hit "Hold My Hand," the soundbite has taken on a viral life of its own.
On TikTok alone, the sound has been used in over 2.1 million videos, scoring everything from bad flight experiences to cringe-worthy vacation blunders.
The Trump administration jumped into the Jet2 Holiday meme-a-palooza in its own way. On July 29, the official White House X account posted a video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees in restraints, set to the ad's soundtrack.
"I was really into politics at a very young age," says Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast and an MSNBC political analyst. "I can't remember what they were called, but you'd get those kid magazines about politics that would come to your school, and I remember always really being drawn to them, and reading them and wanting to know more. I always knew lots of weird facts about politics and geography as a little middle school nerd."
Raised in St. Louis until fourth grade, when his family relocated to Littleton, Colorado, Miller became enmeshed in conservative politics at a young age, taking various campaign jobs throughout his career as a former Republican strategist. He jokes that his success at handicapping political races dates back to the 1992 election, when he won a $1 wager after betting his grandmother that then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton would unseat sitting president George H.W. Bush.
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