Former White House press secretary Karine Jean‑Pierre announced she is leaving the Democratic Party and identifying instead as an independent, citing what she describes as the party’s “betrayal” of Joe Biden and its failure to defend his record.

In her forthcoming book, Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines, Jean-Pierre recounts the three-week period following the June 2024 debate during which she says the Democratic leadership “embarked on an all-out, full-on campaign to embarrass him, to push him out.” She writes that she felt compelled to break from the party because of how it treated Biden after years of service.

Jean-Pierre served as press secretary from May 2022 through January 2025 and was the first Black and openly gay person to hold the role. In interviews and excerpts published ahead of her book’s release, she argues that Democrats failed to articulate the achievements of the Biden–Harris administration, failed to engage voters effectively, and by undermining Biden, weakened the party’s standing.

She also characterised her decision as rooted in broader concerns about representation and loyalty: as a Black woman and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she says she felt the party neglected its base while relying on it for turnout. She maintains she supported Biden’s competency yet was dismayed at how his own party treated him and the candidate transition that followed.

While she acknowledges the threat she believes Donald Trump poses to democracy, Jean-Pierre stresses that her departure from the Democrats does not signal support for Trump but rather a call for political realignment and independence from party loyalty.

Former colleagues and Democratic strategists have responded with scepticism, suggesting her move is timed with her book launch and may undermine the party’s efforts to regroup after the 2024 outcome. Jean-Pierre’s book is set for publication on October 21 2025; she publicly announced her political shift in June.

Her departure illustrates deeper tensions within the Democratic Party around leadership, messaging and identity, and highlights the growing number of voters identifying as political independents in the United States.