Karine Jean-Pierre has left the Democratic Party.
The former press secretary announced her decision on Wednesday, along with the news of her upcoming book, "Independent."
"Until January 20, I was responsible for speaking on behalf of the President of the United States," Jean-Pierre said in a statement. "At noon that day, I became a private citizen who, like all Americans and many of our allies around the world, had to contend with what was to come next for our country. I determined that the danger we face as a country requires freeing ourselves of boxes."
Set to release on October 21, the book's subtitle promises a "look inside a broken White House" and hints at a defense of the Biden administration. In a description from the publisher, Democratic Party pressure to force Biden to end his campaign is painted as a "betrayal." The description goes on to call the book a guide to carving out "a political space more loyal to personal beliefs than a party affiliation."
Jean-Pierre's book will follow Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson into the suddenly crowded market of post-mortems on Biden's single term in the Oval Office. Her departure-cum-book announcement drew mockery from her former colleagues, who called it a "joke" and a "grift."
"She made a joke about being an independent last year, and now it's a book," an anonymous former White House staffer told Politico. "All ideas are monetary, even the dumb ones."
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Democratic strategist Caitlin Legacki pushed back against KJP while speaking to the outlet, saying that Biden and Harris did "hero's work" in preventing a Republican supermajority in Congress.
"It's more productive to focus on that, and thank Biden for doing the responsible thing by stepping aside, than it is to pretend this was an unwarranted act of betrayal," she said.
