White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was celebrated Wednesday by the Long Island community where she grew up.
The mayor of Hempstead presented the historic presidential spokesperson with the key to the village. She also received an enthusiastic welcome when visiting her old primary school.
What you need to know
- White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was celebrated Wednesday by the Long Island community where she grew up.
- As Jean-Pierre visited Joseph A. McNeil Elementary School Wednesday morning, students lined the hallways to give him high fives and hugs.
- Over the past two and a half years, Jean-Pierre has made history as the first black person and first openly gay person to serve as White House press secretary.
“I moved (to Hempstead Village) during the most transformative years of my life and… a very big part of who I am is because of this community,” she told Spectrum News in a interview. “I was a volunteer firefighter…I worked in the community, I went to school in the community.
As Jean-Pierre visited Joseph A. McNeil Elementary School Wednesday morning, students lined the hallways to give him high fives and hugs. Some held up signs to greet her.
“It definitely looks the same, feels the same,” she said of the school, known as Franklin Elementary when she was a student.
“I think of little Karine,” she said. “I was shy. I was clumsy. I was new to the community.
Nor could she have imagined, as a student, that she would one day be a spokesperson for the president of the United States, she said.
Addressing a school assembly held in his honor, Jean-Pierre urged students to fight for their dreams. “The naysayers – the ones who tell you you can’t do it – don’t listen to them, don’t listen to the noise,” she said.
“The work of a lifetime”
Over the past two and a half years, Jean-Pierre has made history as the first black person and first openly gay person to serve as White House press secretary.
In 2023, she told Spectrum News she hoped that her daily presence behind the briefing room podium would offer a dose of encouragement to the LGBTQ community.
Now, just weeks before the White House changes hands and loses her job, she said she will always be concerned about these vulnerable communities.
“I hope we continue to fight, whatever happens, we continue to be there for each other,” she said.
(Spectrum News NY1)
Looking back, Jean-Pierre says that she “did the job of press secretary well”.
“I’m the longest-serving press secretary to date,” she said. “I am here in this position because the president wanted me in this position. I continue to hold this position, because the president wants me to hold this position.
Her tenure has not been without criticism, ranging from complaints that she was too reliant on her briefing book to reports of tensions behind the scenes – criticism that she disputes.
Then she repeatedly insisted that President Joe Biden would not pardon her son Hunter. Right after Thanksgiving, the president did just that.
Jean-Pierre claims that she did not mislead anyone.
“It’s my job as White House press secretary to convey what the president thinks and wants and how he’s going to move forward at that time,” she said, repeating: “At this time that moment.”
As for what happens after Biden’s term ends, Jean-Pierre isn’t sharing just yet, saying she’s focused on the work that remains to be done before January 20.
She says serving as White House press secretary has been a privilege. And she hopes her tenure will serve as an inspiration to young students who now sit in the same classrooms where she learned all those years ago.
“I never thought I would be here,” Jean-Pierre said. “It’s been a lifetime’s work.”