Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has publicly announced that her mother was secretly battling cancer during her time in the Biden administration.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Jean-Pierre said the burden of caring for her mother was like working a "second full-time job" but she kept it private because society does not allow black women to be "vulnerable."
Jean-Pierre said she would drive from Washington D.C. to New York "every weekend I could to see my mom" and would often return to work on a few hours of sleep.
"I have been silently working a second full-time job, which is navigating my mother's care," she said.
The child of Haitian immigrants claimed that she was held to a higher standard because of her race and sexuality - and did not want to be perceived as offering "excuses" for her performance.
"Society doesn't allow women of color to be vulnerable at work. When you're a first, you don't get the benefit of the doubt," she said.
"I'm the first black press secretary. The first person of color press secretary. The first openly queer press secretary. The first Haitian American immigrant press secretary. The first press secretary to be all of the above," she said.
"Being a first meant that my responsibilities were beyond those in the job description, the load heavier. I bear a certain responsibility to the communities I represent."
During her time at the briefing room podium, Jean-Pierre was often criticized for her ungainly, by-the-book approach to her job.
She was a stalwart defender of the president and some of his most controversial decisions, including the pardon of his son Hunter Biden.
"Two things could be true," she said. "The president does believe in the justice system and Department of Justice, and he also believes that his son was singled out politically."
Before Biden's cognitive decline was publicly exposed last year, Jean-Pierre repeatedly claimed that the president was mentally sharp - notoriously suggesting she could not "keep up" with him.
Jean-Pierre said her mother was diagnosed with stage two colon cancer months after they attended Biden's first state dinner in December 2022. Her mother wanted to keep the illness a secret, but Jean-Pierre confided in President Biden, who was supportive.
The cancer is now in remission, she said.
