January 22, 2025

"Society doesn’t allow women of color to be vulnerable at work. When you’re a first, you don’t get the benefit of the doubt."

"I want to be clear: I do not regret my decision to keep my life private while in office. This piece is no apology, it’s an explanation. An explanation of who I am, what I’ve been through, and what it’s like to come from where I come from and sit in the public eye.... From the beginning of my time as press secretary, I navigated the typically choppy waters of American politics.... And I have also trudged through thick, thick grief... For more than 18 months, I drove up to New York every weekend I could to see my mom.... As present as I was in organizing my mom’s [cancer] care, I still tried to maintain a sense of privacy when I visited her. I’d wear big sunglasses, a mask, and no makeup. Unable to help herself, my mom had already bragged about me to anyone who would listen. Yet the weight of it all felt like too much. I am used to heaviness.... But I was losing my grip. I told my mom I wanted to move to New York so I could help her full-time. 'You are not quitting your job,' she said.... Quitting the administration would hurt her more than my full-time caretaking would help....."


AND: Here's the new press secretary, who also faces the challenge of convincing you that her selection was merit-based:

108 comments:

Leland said...

The Biden White House didn't care about the vulnerability of Laken Riley.

rehajm said...

She voluntarily took the tough job of being the mouthpiece for the most vile Presidential administration in American history. Tough…

Paul said...

Be gone!!!!

Iman said...

Who is this again?

Iman said...

They must see themselves - and have others see them - as heroes.

AlbertAnonymous said...

Society doesn’t allow women of color to be vulnerable at work?

What the actual fuck? Where do they come up with this shit?

Peachy said...

the whining... it never ends.
she was given a choice job and she dutifully read from her giant binder.
Still a victim!

rhhardin said...

Blacks write blackity-black genre stuff. What it's like being black. Even Glenn Loury and John McWhorter. It displaces anything important.

Some exceptions, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, and probably some others. Regarded as serious people.

Peachy said...

Vanity Fair - LOLOLOLOL. The glossy for rich white left celebrity class.
You can bet that Meryl Streep will hang on every word.

john mosby said...

I liked her when, as an msnbc host moderating a live panel somewhere, she got up and physically defended her guests from BLM gatecrashers. Just pure courage from a tiny girl.

Somehow that KJP got lost in the transition to press secretary.

JSM

Dave Begley said...

Her private life was fully public and made so by her. She's a lesbian. She broke up with her lesbian partner. It was all in the news.

Very doubtful she would have gotten that job if she wasn't a Black lesbian. But really fitting that the worst President in history had a terrible Press Secretary.

Jamie said...

I'm sorry for her personal losses and tragedies. But no one gets to be "vulnerable at work" - at least, not without a cost. Remember when Tony Snow, while in remission and also working as press secretary, was asked how he was feeling about his cancer battle? He took the risk of allowing his personal emotion to come through in his response - he got a little choked up about how grateful he was for his recovery and for every day. And some factions of the press went grotesquely nuts. In the socials, disgusting people crowed at his vulnerability and hoped for a return of his "ass cancer."

Them's the breaks. You reveal your inner self at your peril. Sometimes you receive sympathy; sometimes you receive ridicule and hateful ill-wishes. Happens in this very blog. Annually I swear an oath to myself, and sometimes make it public here for accountability, to eschew participating in the ridicule and hateful ill-wishes, and annually I feel a need to renew that oath.

Dave Begley said...

I get VF. It's People magazine for the rich and not as good as People mag.

RideSpaceMountain said...

She was among, if not the most, inept press secretaries of all time. A Grade A fuck-up, which is beginning to look more and more like a standard characteristic of the double-protected class (aka queer and black, etc).

Not only should you walk away from someone that is black+something or gay+something, you should run.

Wince said...

I read this as KJP trying to create a subtext of distance between herself and her complicity in the Biden regime through a tale of altruistic distraction.

Shouting Thomas said...

“I want to be clear” is a virtual announcement that you’re about to speak bullshit. It always causes me to cease reading or listening.

Lazarus said...

I wonder if the flight of men from higher education only encourages this kind of thinking among women of color in the professions. The feeling may be there -- and even be stronger -- but it isn't expressed as openly when women have to compete against men and justify themselves through performance, rather than identity group.

robother said...

As with the first dog to walk on its hind legs, she is inviting us to apply Samuel Johnson's standard. "It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.'

Jaq said...

She was a moron; her race and sex had nothing to do with this judgement. But she was cute as a button, that's for sure.

John Borell said...

I'm a White, straight, married, male lawyer. Society doesn't let me be vulnerable at work, either.

wendybar said...

Her first sermon to us, was about how she was proud to be the first black female immigrant to do that job. She can sit down. She sucked at the job, and would NOT have gotten it if it weren't for the boxes she checked off.

baghdadbob said...

Society doesn't allow a woman of color to be vulnerable at work?!?

In reality, society is subjected to a constant drumbeat of women of color expressing their vulnerability, sense of oppression, undue burden and ultimately, triumphant Queenhood. You go girl! You a Queen!

Owen said...

Jamie @ 9:06: "...to eschew participating in the ridicule and hateful ill-wishes,..." Well said.

wendybar said...

Oh...and I forgot LESBIAN. She added that check mark too.

Randomizer said...

"Society doesn’t allow women of color to be vulnerable at work.”

So, society makes women of color invulnerable at work. That's the opposite of RJP's meaning, but it's closer to the truth. Exhibit #1: Kamala Harris.

Birches said...

Oh brother.

Michael said...

Clearly she's moving to distance herself from the Biden presidency. Probably maneuvering for a talking head show on MSNBC or NPR

RCOCEAN II said...

Okey dokey. So she kept her mother's cancer to herself and helped her on weekends. Well, good for her. Too many people broadcast that sort of thing for sympathy or for praise.

I"m not too sure what she means being vulnerable at work because she's black. She got the job because she's black. And she got powder puff questions from the DNC-Press. And no one was going to fire her because her Mom had cancer.

Probably the takeaway is this: Large numbers of minorities never stop thinking of themselves as being oppressed by whites or christians. No matter how many privilages or rewards they are given, its still "Us vs. Them". I'll leave it to others to decide this affects their behavior when they have power.

David53 said...

"Society doesn’t allow women of color to be vulnerable at work."

Speaking for all women of color no doubt.

RideSpaceMountain said...

It's the general reduction in quality of higher education, which is also a factor in its increasing abandonment by men. Higher education no longer teaches critical thinking skills, doubly so for the self-designated protected classes which suck at critical thinking before they even step foot through the door.

Academia is women's work, doubly so for gay black women with a chip on their shoulder the size of Jupiter.

RCOCEAN II said...

BTW, she was an idiot but then so was the white woman before her. And it didn't matter because she wasn't up there dueling with a hostile press corps. She was just batting away softballs.

Peachy said...

I personally think she is adorable. I hope she can thrive outside of the clutches of the corrupt democrat party.

Charlie said...

< trump voice > BYE BYE!!

Charles said...

She is spouting BS. She was given over and over slack that they would never give unless she was black and woman,.

It is just a basic admission that black women are not good at things and need to be compensated for at many levels.

This the opposite of what the early Civil Rights Movement wanted and the whole thing became a welfare program to get votes.

RideSpaceMountain said...

There is a simple solution to the vulnerability of colored women at work...

Don't hire them.

mindnumbrobot said...

Tony Snow was a class act. RIP

gilbar said...

She's The TRUE VICTIM!
Those MEANIES gave her a job, based SOLEY on her color, nationality and sexual preference..
And THEN! people ACTED like she'd gotten her job, based SOLEY on her color, nationality and sexual preference..

IMAGINE how HARD that was for her!

mindnumbrobot said...

Even when it should be easy to have sympathy for her, she makes it impossible by waving around the racism/sexism victimhood flag.

gspencer said...

"Po me. Youse should be feelin' mah pain. I be a special kind."

Save it for your SNL appearance.

Dan from Madison said...

Let us compare and contrast the questions that she got versus what the new press secretary is about to get. And then we can discuss work vulnerabilities.

Quaestor said...

How does this additional complaint about being a "woman of color" (What is it now? I stopped counting at Complaint Number 11,703.) explain her continuous, unrelenting, almost-literally-with-every-drawn-breath assault on the evident truth of Joe Biden's dementia and criminality

Peachy said...

Loyalty and money.

michaele said...

It is wearisome to know that in her mind, even now, her race was a bigger deal in regards to being Biden's press secretary than the fact she is a lesbian and was in a romantic relationship that was public knowledge. Frankly, the bar of judgementalism is set at how competent you are at your job.

gilbar said...

to be Fair.. I asked wikipedia for her accomplishments ..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karine_Jean-Pierre

"Jean-Pierre graduated from High School..
Her parents wanted her to study medicine, but performed poorly on the Medical College Admission Test.
Changing career tracks, She earned degree in Public Affairs at Columbia University, where she served in student government..

n January 2019, Jean-Pierre became a political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC."

That's IT.. That, and being a Black Lesbian Imigrant

Earnest Prole said...

Americans of both parties no longer expect their presidents to pretend to tell the truth — indeed, obvious gaslighting delights partisans far more than the old standard, skillful deflection. So in that sense, KJP was great at her job, which is to say she was awful.

Big Mike said...

I’m sorry for her loss, but affirmative action dates back to 1964. That’s more than sixty years ago for those too innumerate to calculate it for themselves. I am so tired of “Poor me, I’z black.”

Eva Marie said...

Work is a respite from personal problems. At times, it’s works most useful function.

narciso said...

I can't see she was a good example for anyone,

BarrySanders20 said...

She chose the swamp, and nobody in politics sheds a tear there. As Truman said, if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog. That pre-dates Ms. Ditsy Frizz.

Breezy said...


“When you’re a first, you don’t get the benefit of the doubt."

I’m not understanding this woman at all…. Throughout her whole tenure she was given the benefit of doubt. Others would been reassigned or let go.

tim maguire said...

The days when "woman of color" was a first are long since over. She was judged on her work and on the administration she represented.

But being a liberal means never having to admit you made a bad choice and did a bad job.

William said...

She came into the (TAXPAYER-FUNDED) position full of merde; she's going out the same way. She is an offensive human being. I would not have hired her for any position for any reason. Bad attitude.

Jimmy said...

life is tough, no kidding. Dealing with sick or dying family while trying to do your job is fairly common, unfortunately. Ask the grandkids and kids of those who died during covid, alone, because of leftist policies.
She was hired not on merit, but on color, and sexual preference. another professional victim and it's clearly my fault, as a straight white male.
hey, when you willingly become part of an administration based on corruption, lies, and deceit, don't whine about it. Everyone knew who and what Biden was, including her.

Former Illinois resident said...

I've worked with several black women who undermined team work-effort by both their inherent incompetency, slack work performance, and self-entitled inappropriate behavior, protected by HR unwilling to intervene for fear of a discrimination lawsuit. Work performance is more than "showing up".

hawkeyedjb said...

"People magazine for the rich and not as good as People mag"
Hah! That's a good one.

jadair04 said...

Too bad about her mum. Glad she was able to help. Doesn't change the fact she was lousy at her job.

MadisonMan said...

I don't really care about a professional's private life. Does that make me unusual? All the professors I work with: except for the one who lives on my street, I have no idea what their family situation is, for example. I hope she can come around to the point of view that people actually don't really care about her personally.

Aggie said...

How is any of this remarkable? Much less, worthy of reportage?

WhoKnew said...

first black female immigrant (and lesbian). On the bright side, look how many descriptors have to be added to generate a first. It's getting harder and harder to be the first anything these days. If I never hear the words "the first" in describing a job holder again I'll be the first great grandson of german immigrants from a town on the great lakes who used to be a redhead to breathe a healthy sigh of relief.

Ampersand said...

Shouldn't she be talking about her successful performance as press secretary for an extraordinarily effective administration? If Mom was publicly irrelevant before, why does she now need to uncloak her sacred privacy? Isn't this a deflection? Somebody should be asking her about her role in hiding Biden's dishonesty, poor judgment, and mental decline from the American people.

Quaestor said...

This whole Vanity Fair megillah is preemptive narrative building intended to provide KJ-M an escape pod from the simple American plebian's earnest question, "How do you feel about being the highest-paid serial liar since Joseph Goebbels?"

(Hold your fire! There're no lifeforms aboard.)

Ampersand said...

Wait a minute. I was first to do that. I did that last week. I was just about to notify the people at the Guinness Book.

stlcdr said...

I know people are saying she did a bad job, but I think it's the opposite: imagine how you need to spin everything the Biden administration did as a good thing? That's one hell of a job.

hawkeyedjb said...

^This. I went to work at a new company/career two weeks after my wife died. I didn't talk about it because I didn't want to have to explain, and didn't want to inflict my problems on my co-workers.

Enigma said...

The Biden White House didn't care abou the vulnerability of KJP. She had the right appearance for the job, but that's it. The pathological liar Jen Psaki was a cold-blooded liar, but at least minimally qualified for the job. KJP was so bad that John Kirby had to handle every adult question. Equity routinely results in painful humilitations.

GRW3 said...

She had the worst assignment since Baghdad Bob. I'm not sure she could have done anything differently. Maybe been a little more gracious and not as combative with reporters who asked actual questions. The MSM owes her a place.

RideSpaceMountain said...

At least Jen Psaki was a competent liar, she didn't have a rug-munching woman of color status to hide behind.

Shouting Thomas said...

We’re a society of geriatrics. Does she really think that there’s anybody out there who is not experiencing dealing with the old and dying in their family?

Quaestor said...

K-J-M's obvious answer to my 9:58 question: "I was not nearly as well-paid as Rachel Maddow. White Catholic lesbians get all the sugar."

Quaestor said...

GRW3 writes, "She had the worst assignment since Baghdad Bob."

Or the best, it depends on the state of one's soul.

Ambrose said...

They had to move the goal posts from women to women of color.

Dogma and Pony Show said...

KJP broke the WH press secretary incompetency barrier.

One Fine Day said...

"I want to be clear" and "trust me" need not be said if one is being clear and/or can be trusted.

One Fine Day said...

I am told on highest authority that keeping personal issues to yourself in order to not burden your co-workers is White Supremacy.

Aggie said...

The Walking Umbrage.

Big Mike said...

AND: Here's the new press secretary, who also faces the challenge of convincing you that her selection was merit-based:

Does Althouse believe that pretty blonde woman equates to stupid and unqualified? Be prepared to learn something new, Professor.

Goldenpause said...

Her problem wasn't that she was "woman of color" or gay. Here problem was that she was terrible at her job and everyone noticed. But she still will get some nice job with a lefty organization.

The Drill SGT said...

+ Immigrant

Disparity of Cult said...

"First" is now recycled by adding "since" or "in over". E.g. former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The Drill SGT said...

"let me be honest here"

Amadeus 48 said...

What does race have to do with it? By their works ye shall know them.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Hey I understand misspelling "unprepared" "unprofessional" and "unbelievable" but it usually doesn't turn out "vulnerable." But then I'm not a lesbian of color.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

It's been a looooooong time since Christopher Hitchens left the editorial meeting.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

But was unfortunately vulnerable to cancer. He was white. White as snow. So he was allowed to be vulnerable you see.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Cutest mop to fall out of the closet!

RCOCEAN II said...

Glad Ms Leavitt will be reaching to other forms of media. Standing in the White House press room debating a bunch of leftwing propagandists disguised as reporters isn't going to cut it.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Excellent.

RCOCEAN II said...

The only judge of Press spokesman competence is the person who they are speaking for.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Mocking her is the proper and apt way to address such hairshirtism.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Why so vague? Name that color dammit! Are you mocha? Root beer? Macchiato? Santa Cruz sand? Light toast? Simply brown? "Of color"? I'm of apathy at this point.

PM said...

If society can accept end-zone choreography, it can accept anything.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Her job was to anticipate the daily shitstorm and and have answers. She was wholly unprepared. Everyone in the room knew what the questions would be on a given day and her response was to shuffle the pages in her giant binder looking for a response to fit. Usually unsuccessfully. Psaki was a disgusting skank but she had a response prepared. That's what press secretaries do. She knew what the news cycle was at the moment. And she's going to circle back one of these days with the answer.

For contrast go back and watch ANY Kaylee McEnaney press conference.

tommyesq said...

"Society doesn’t allow women of color to be vulnerable at work."

Does she really believe that the rest of use are allowed to be vulnerable at work? Can I stop mid-trial and tell the judge I have the "sads?"

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Great! He was the only one more clueless than her!

Krumhorn said...

Rather than her intersectionality, I was impressed by what a remarkably bald-faced liar she was in her job. Since bald-faced lying was a job qualification in the Biden administration, she got there on meritocracy for sure.

- Krumhorn

baghdadbob said...

GRW3 said:
She had the worst assignment since Baghdad Bob.

Hey hey, it was a piece of cake representing our most glorious leader as he vanquished the invading infidels. I am now comfortably retired at
The Villages, where everyone's entrails will roast in hell. What color is your loofa?

baghdadbob said...

One Fine Day said...
"I want to be clear" and "trust me" need not be said if one is being clear and/or can be trusted.

Honestly, that's no joke. I mean that.

Readering said...

KL appealing but she lost me at the overwhelming mandate lie.

hombre said...

"Society" evidently doesn't allow Democrat women of color to be appreciative when they rise to positions that most would envy. Maybe it's DEI. If you haven't earned it, you can't appreciate it. Take Karine. From political hack to Doocy's punching bag. Tough to be grateful. "Society" you know.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Karine Jean-Pierre, President Biden’s lying dirtbag of a Press Secretary, Reveals Some Truths for the first time, ever.
FIFY, Vanity Fair

rehajm said...

I'm going to ponder this one...

Tina Trent said...

Most professional people have to separate work and family, missy.

Stoutcat said...

Also, "My word as a Biden"

boatbuilder said...

I am certain that she got some very ugly hate mail. It goes with public life.

But I cannot recall anyone--politician, commentator, or otherwise-- making an issue of her private life as a public matter. What is she talking about?

Enigma said...

This person was a 25x-protected nuclear energy federal manager, briefly:

https://www.the-sun.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/11/sam-brinton-attends-trevor-projects-779206043.jpg?strip=all&w=712

loudogblog said...

One of the biggest signs that you're a DEI hire is that you play the victim card about your job. No one is supposed to be "vulnerable" at work; you're supposed to be working. When you're at work, you're supposed to leave your private life at home and not bring it into the workplace.

Rusty said...

No body cares what the former court jester for the Biden administration thinks.

Dude1394 said...

Exactly why I discount anyone who talks about how they were the first anything of color. Thats all they think they are.