The United States President, Joe Biden, on Thursday, named Karine Jean-Pierre as the next White House press secretary, the first black person to ever hold the post, to replace Jen Psaki, who have said from the outset that she would step down during Biden’s term.
Jean-Pierre, who would also be the first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender person in the role, would replace Jen Psaki, under whom she served as deputy, from May 13.
Biden in a statement praised Jean-Pierre’s experience, talent, and integrity, saying he was proud to announce her appointment.
The outgoing spokeswoman, bringing Jean-Pierre behind the podium for the traditional briefing of accredited journalists at the White House on Thursday, praised, in a voice sometimes choked with emotion, the qualities of her deputy, whom she hugged several times.
The 44-year-old Jean-Pierre, who has a daughter with her partner, a Cable News Network journalist, has already taken to the famed podium in the White House’s James S. Brady press briefing room as Psaki’s number two.
Before her, only one other Black woman, Judy Smith, had been deputy White House press secretary, during George Walker Bush’s presidency in 1991.
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