Karine Jean-Pierre insists to skeptical CBS anchors that Biden was treated unfairly, always seemed sharp

CBS News anchors Tony Dokoupil and Gayle King pressed former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Monday over her frustrations with the Democratic Party's efforts to push former President Joe Biden out of the 2024 race, as well her holding firm that the former president was always sharp. 

"So when this book landed on my desk and I saw ‘A broken White House,’ in the subtitle, I have to say, I thought you were going to say that, try as you might to convince Joe Biden to drop out of the race — because what we were seeing is what you were seeing, and he was struggling, and couldn’t do it — I thought you were going to say you were angry at that," Dokoupil began. "What you said in this book is you’re angry at the people who tried to push him out."

"Some Americans are going to say, ‘seriously?’" Dokoupil said. 

Jean-Pierre said she couldn't "stomach" being in the Democratic Party anymore in her new book, "Independent," citing the party's treatment of the former president and its effort to force him out of the 2024 race. After a long career as a Democratic Party flack, Jean-Pierre suddenly left the party earlier this year, drawing ridicule from both sides of the aisle.

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Then-President Joe Biden, accompanied by former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on October 4, 2024, in Washington, D.C.   (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Jean-Pierre said Americans were coming up to her to ask what was wrong with the Democratic Party and argued that her book was about how to move forward while feeling disillusionment with the party. 

"I want to pick up on what Tony was saying because I, too, thought that," co-host Gayle King said. "You said, people said, why didn’t members of his inner circle speak up about what many believe was the apparent decline of Joe Biden and you said you’re a member of the inner circle, and you never saw the decline. After that I wrote, ‘how?’ You even write, Karine, that you were on the plane with him going to the debate, and you didn’t see anything."

"So hard to understand," King added.

Jean-Pierre said it was a "rare" trip where she didn't see Biden even though they were on the plane together traveling to Atlanta, because his family was in tow. 

Biden's disastrous debate in June 2024 against Donald Trump ultimately changed history. His halting, raspy performance alarmed his party and ultimately led to a successful pressure campaign to bow out of the race.

Jean-Pierre added, "I want everybody to know that I take this question incredibly seriously, I do. I was his White House press secretary, which means I had a role that saw him practically every day and traveled with him."

King interjected again and asked, "You saw nothing?"

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White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during a briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 26, 2024.  (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

"We always said we are not going to say, ‘Oh, he didn’t age.’ He aged, and he poked fun at it. We always owned up, and with age comes what happens when you get older," Jean-Pierre said. 

Dokoupil pressed, "Which is?"

Jean-Pierre insisted Biden's mental acuity was strong. 

"I saw someone who was always engaged. I saw someone who understood policy, pushed us on the policy, and also understood history," she said. 

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Former President Joe Biden talks to reporters on the South Lawn of the White House, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo)

Jean-Pierre went on to argue that the two-party system is broken and pointed to the "No Kings" protests that occurred across the country over the weekend. 

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"So the power should be in the hands of the people, not in the White House, not with one establishment, more broadly," she said. 

Jean-Pierre came under criticism after behind-the-scenes reports emerged of Biden's sharp decline in office, as she often defended him from questions about his mental acuity while press secretary.