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Karine Jean-Pierre compares Democrats calling for Biden to be kicked off the ticket to a 'firing squad'

Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke about how "shocking" it was to see Democratic Party leaders criticize then-President Joe Biden to the point where he stepped down from the race.

A month into President Donald Trump’s second term in office, the Democratic Party is still reeling from the 2024 race. One of the race’s most contentious aspects was how leaders and influential figures in the party demanded Biden relinquish the party’s nomination after his disastrous debate performance last June.

At an event at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, Jean-Pierre was asked to share an anecdote about the challenges she faced in the three weeks after that debate up until Biden dropped out, and whether he should have run at all.

"He was the President of the United States at the time, he was the leader of the Democratic Party. It was truly his decision to make on what he wanted to do, and I supported that 100%. Whatever it was, I was going to support that 100%," she answered. "Because he had the right to, as the leader of the Democratic Party coming out of a pretty successful midterm. There was supposed to be a red wave, there wasn't a red wave."

Former Biden administration spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre spoke about the challenge she faced in the weeks before Biden relinquished the party's nomination.

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The great challenge of that three-week period, she said, came from other parts of the Democratic Party itself.

"I… look, personally, I think what was the toughest thing to see in the three weeks was there was a disconnect for me [in] what was happening with leadership in the Democratic Party and how it was truly, as my former colleague, communications director Ben Labolt said, it was a firing squad."

"I had never seen anything like it before. I had never seen a party do that in the way that they did, and it was hurtful and sad to see that happening," Jean-Pierre said. "A firing squad around a person who I believe was a true patriot, a person who I believe did everything that he can for this country. A person who I believe, as I mentioned before, has done more in one term than most presidents had done in two terms, historical things, and I was shocked by what I was seeing."

Then-White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gives remarks at a press briefing. (Andrew Thomas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

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When asked by another member of the panel, Jean-Pierre confirmed she was referring to Democratic leaders who emerged to publicly criticize Biden, noting how "shocking" the turn of events was at the time.

"Instead of coming together to really be unified and trying to figure out how do we save our democracy how do we fight back, that's what I was seeing," she said. "That's what we decided to do for three weeks, and, you know, it was truly, truly unfortunate, and I think it hurt us more than I think folks realized, to have done that."