Karine Jean-Pierre defends Biden against claims about ‘mental acuity,’ says Dems are missing the mark in Trump era

The former White House press secretary says the two-party system is “broken” and called on her former party to stop “relinquishing their power.”

Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is sticking beside her former boss, President Joe Biden, despite broad criticisms of his presidency and decision to run for re-election, only to drop out four months before the 2024 election.

While promoting her new book “Independent: A Look Inside A Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,” Jean-Pierre told “CBS Mornings” she rejects questions about Biden’s “mental acuity” while in office.

“I take this very, very seriously. I never saw anyone who wasn’t there. I saw someone who was always engaged. I saw someone who understood policy, pushed us on the policy, and also understood history,” Jean-Pierre told hosts Gayle King, Tony Dokoupil, and Nate Burleson.

Reflecting on her time in the White House, she shared, “There were times where he would call me into the Oval Office, and I would be like, ‘Oh no, oh no,’ because I knew whatever he was going to ask me was going to be direct, was going to be about a story he read about how we’re pushing back, how we’re pushing a message forward.”

The former Biden spokesperson’s new book takes aim at the Democratic Party, specifically those who worked behind the scenes and publicly to oust Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee after a disastrous debate against Trump in June 2024. Jean-Pierre said the ordeal led her to the decision to leave the Democratic Party (she is now an Independent).

“I actually think that the system is broken,” said Jean-Pierre, echoing the same criticism made by former Vice President Kamala Harris.

“The two party system is broken, and we need it to be fixed,” said the former White House press secretary, who also criticized Democrats for failing to be an effective “opposition party” to the Trump administration and Republican Party.

“Why aren’t there more lawsuits from Democrats? Why are outside groups lining up to do the the opposition protests? We should have the Democrats more involved. Why aren’t Democrats standing in front of a hospital that’s about to be shut down because of GOP hikes that is going to cost lives?” said Jean-Pierre.

As she is approached in public, Jean-Pierre shared that many people have expressed that they feel like Democrats are “acting as it is normal times,” adding, “They are relinquishing their power.”

As a newly declared Independent, the former Democratic operative said she is using her platform to push the public to reevaluate the two-party system of Democrats and Republicans.

“There are millions of people, not just me, millions of people who are part of the independent party, who feel like they’re not seen,” said Jean-Pierre, who noted that young Americans are also turning to the Independent Party.

While an October Gallup national poll found that 55% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat likely” to vote for third-party candidates, only 15% say they are “very likely” to do so. Nearly six in 10 Americans say they are “highly concerned” that voting for a third-party candidate would result in them wasting their vote on a losing candidate or helping to elect their least preferred candidate.