White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt fired back hard at her predecessor Karine Jean-Pierre after Jean-Pierre labeled one of her recent remarks “deplorable.”
“With all due respect to my predecessor, she is one of the main culprits of the greatest cover-up and scandal in American history,” Leavitt said Tuesday on Jesse Watters Primetime. “She took the podium every day and lied to the press about the incompetence of her boss. And on this book tour, she continues to lie.”
Jean-Pierre is currently promoting her memoir, Independent, where she discusses her break from the Democratic Party and her time in the Biden White House.
Her clash with Leavitt began after a clip resurfaced on ABC’s The View earlier this month. In it, Leavitt said Democrats’ “main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”
Jean-Pierre didn’t hold back when reacting to the statement. “Hearing that, it’s deplorable,” she said. “And I’m using that word on purpose. Because they don’t seem to understand—this is the Trump White House—they don’t work for just one man. They work for the American people.”
Leavitt quickly hit back. “I know Karine unfortunately worked for the most incompetent president in history. So I guess she has a reason to be bitter, but being bitter will not sell you books,” she told Fox News’ Jesse Watters.
She also accused Jean-Pierre of “gaslighting” Americans over claims that Biden was still fit for office and gave more press access than former President Donald Trump.
Jean-Pierre defended Biden in a separate interview on The Bulwark podcast, saying he addressed the public “a couple of times a week” and pushed back on claims he avoided the media more than Trump.