It was grimly poignant that the first Black person to hold a briefing as White House press secretary should begin by naming victims of white supremacist violence. Karine Jean-Pierre, standing at the famed blue lectern, took a moment to “remember lives lost and forever changed in Buffalo” with brief and evocative biographies of the 10 victims of Saturday’s mass shooting in New York state.
Evidently, whereas Joe Biden’s first press secretary, Jen Psaki, could ride a wave of optimism at the start of a new administration – and benefit by comparison with Donald Trump’s mendacious messengers – Jean-Pierre is inheriting a world of trouble.
