“I have never seen anything like that,” said Jean-Pierre while speaking at a forum at Harvard Kennedy School ‘s Institute of Politics.

Karine Jean-Pierre, President Joe Biden’s former White House press secretary, is speaking out about her ex-boss being unceremoniously ousted from the 2024 presidential election just one month after leaving office.

While speaking at a forum at Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics on Wednesday, Jean-Pierre did not mince words when defending Biden. On July 21, 2024, President Biden announced that he would no longer seek reelection after dozens of Democrats privately and publicly called for him to step aside following a poor debate performance against then-Republican candidate Donald Trump.

“I have never seen anything like that,” said Jean-Pierre, according to The Harvard Crimson. “It was truly, truly unfortunate. And I think it hurt us more than folks realized to have done that.”

Influential Democrats and donors, including Biden’s friend, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., led the pressure campaign to stop Biden from seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Ultimately, former Vice President Kamala Harris secured the nomination; however, she notably lost to Trump in the general election. Now that the dust has settled, Jean-Pierre, who long credited Biden for her historic role as the first Black and openly LGBTQ+ person to serve as White House press secretary, said the effort to push out Biden was like a “firing squad,” the Crimson reported.

Though Biden faced political headwinds due to public outcry over the cost of living due to inflation, Jean-Pierre maintained that the work of the Biden administration was meaningful. She told the audience, “I believe in what we were trying to get done … I would not have come back into the administration, I don’t think, for anybody else.”

WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 02: U.S. President Joe Biden walks with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre as they return to the White House on May 02, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden is returning from a day trip to North Carolina. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Not all Democrats were on board for ousting President Biden. Most members of the Black Congressional Caucus stood behind him, including Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who is credited for saving Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign with a crucial endorsement before the South Carolina presidential primary election.

“I think history is going to be very, very kind to Joe Biden,” Clyburn told theGrio, just a month before President Biden left office. “Joe Biden is catching a lot of hell from a lot of people today because he’s doing the right thing, and people are using social media to misrepresent what he’s doing, but history is going to be very kind to him because history has got a way of getting beyond style and into substance.” The 84-year-old congressman added, “He’s displayed more substance than any president in my lifetime, and that ain’t a short period of time.”

Jean-Pierre’s visit to Harvard came a day after her successor, Karoline Leavitt, announced on Tuesday that the Trump White House would take control of the presidential press pool system, which has for decades been independently controlled by media outlets, which includes those that are nonpartisan, left-leaning and right-leaning. The move from the Trump administration has been condemned by the White House Correspondents’ Association and others as an affront to the First Amendment rights of the free press.

By contrast, Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration made it a priority to foster a healthy relationship between the press and the White House. “We tried to bring that norm back because we understood how important it was to have the freedom of the press,” said the former Biden spokesperson. “Even when we didn’t agree with them, it didn’t matter, even when it was contentious in that room.”

Responding directly to Leavitt’s announcement of the White House takeover of the press pool, Jean-Pierre admitted, “What I am seeing now is scary,” adding, “When you take that away, when you do not do that, then where’s the democracy? Where’s that healthy back-and-forth? Where’s the accountability?”

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