Deputy White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday will command the White House podium and room filled with White House reporters eager to pepper her with questions about President Joe Biden’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, police reform and everything in between. 

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre arrives at a daily press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House April 22, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“I appreciate the moment and I’m honored to have the moment,” Karine Jean-Pierre told theGrio.

Women have commanded the press briefing podium over the years. That is historic but not new. What is exceptional and not the norm at the White House Briefing Room is a Black woman holding it down for the daily press briefing.

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“It is an honor being behind that podium and I want to make sure I give it due respect,” Jean-Pierre emphasized. “It’s about how are we doing the job so that we’re making sure that we are lifting up the people’s voices everyday.”

Jean-Pierre follows in the footsteps of Judy Smith who commanded the White House Briefing Room during the George H.W. Bush presidency in 1991. Shonda Rhimes famously based her Olivia Pope character (played by Kerry Washington) on Smith’s role in the Bush administration. 

Judy Smith speaks onstage at OZY Fusion Fest 2016 at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park on July 23, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Brad Barket/Getty Images for Ozy Fusion Fest)

In this historic moment, Jean-Pierre will step in front of the microphone on the flag-draped podium becoming the spokesperson for the highest office in the land. She will handle the James Brady Briefing Room at a time when a president is promoting equity in every facet of life — which includes the halls of government.

Karine Jean-Pierre is poised to answer questions from a crowd of 24 journalists due to COVID-19. A larger press gathering is expected to return to the White House soon. 

Martha Joynt Kumar, a presidential scholar who has observed White House Briefings since 1975 contends, “the press secretary channels information from the White House to reporters .. it is information [and] reporters want answers.”

The position of a press secretary is to serve as a communicator “between the press and the president” with “the expectation of accuracy and information on a timely basis” on all issues and current events. 

Karine Jean-Pierre is the daughter of Haitian immigrants. Prior to working with the Biden administration, Karine was an author, campaign organizer and TV commentator. 

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