Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave Americans a look behind the podium in a telling Vanity Fair piece published on Tuesday.
Jean-Pierre, who chose to keep her personal life private while working in the Biden-Harris administration, revealed a private health battle that put significant weight on her and her family.
Jean-Pierre recalled attending 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 her mother, who told her that 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 took a turn, and just a couple of months later, her mother was diagnosed with stage II colon cancer. Jean-Pierre found out that her mother was sick while visiting Poland with then-President Joe Biden.
“My mother has always been a private person. When she finally acquiesced to reality, she told me: ‘Don’t tell anyone. Do not tell the president I have cancer,’” the former press secretary wrote.
Biden was supposedly “one of only a few people at the White House” who knew about what Jean-Pierre’s mother was going through. Jean-Pierre said Biden “showed up for me” during the difficult time.