REPORT: KJP Keeps Blocking John Kirby From Podium After She ‘Fumed’ About Being Upstaged

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is blocking National Security spokesperson John Kirby from appearing alongside her at the briefings as she has long “fumed” about being upstaged, people familiar with the matter told Axios.

Jean-Pierre and Kirby have long feuded at the White House podium, though the frustrations hit a boiling point in January over the amount of time each spent taking questions following Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, Axios previously reported, citing White House sources. Over the last few months, Kirby has been mostly absent from the briefing room, which people familiar with the matter told Axios is because the press secretary is keeping him from doing so. (RELATED: ‘Unprecedented’: KJP’s Worst Fears Appear To Be Coming True)

Since the White House’s top communications official, Anita Dunn, departed the White House, Jean-Pierre has assumed more control over the briefing room and has pushed back every time someone suggests Kirby appears in the briefing, a person familiar with the process told Axios. Following Dunn’s exit July 30, Kirby has joined the press briefing just 15% of the time, even as the conflict in the Middle East has continued to intensify, according to an Axios count. Before Dunn’s departure, however, Kirby attended 55% of the briefings.

“That characterization of their dynamic is inaccurate,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Axios, adding that Jean-Pierre and Kirby “have a respectful relationship.”

Bates, who up until Biden officially dropped out of the White House race denied reports that the president would be doing so, told Axios that it is “not true” that Jean-Pierre is keeping Kirby from appearing in the briefings.

In response to the Axios story, neither Jean-Pierre or Kirby commented. They reinforced their statements to The New York Times that were included in a February story about the White House dynamic.

“Karine and John have critical jobs working together to inform the American people about the President’s foreign policy agenda and the steps he is taking every day to keep the American people safe,” a spokesperson for the National Security Council told Axios.

“It was always planned for Kirby to do fewer briefings closer to the election,” a person familiar with the dynamic told the outlet.

Kirby’s frequency in the press briefings over the last year come at the direction of the president, as Biden has even asked the spokesman to travel with him on both domestic and international trips, Axios previously reported. The national security spokesperson has mentioned wanting to be the press secretary, according to the outlet.

But even though Kirby’s role in the press briefings come at the direction of the president, Jean-Pierre has “fumed” about his presence, believing that it gives “the impression she needed a chaperone,” people familiar with her thinking told Axios.

When Kirby does attend the briefings, Jean-Pierre calls on reporters for him, according to Axios. Jean-Pierre usually calls on reporters for infrequent guests but the press secretary still does the practice for Kirby, something that frustrates him, the outlet reported.

Since Dunn left, Jean-Pierre has pushed back each time Kirby has suggested appearing at the briefing, a person familiar with the process told Axios.

With the 2 at odds, the decision had to go all the way up to White House chief of staff Jeff Zients to make a final call.

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) October 14, 2024

While Jean-Pierre has previously complained to Chief of Staff Jeff Zients about the dynamic, Kirby too confided in the top White House official earlier in the year over concerns that the arrangement is unsustainable, two people familiar with the conversation told Axios.

“You’ll have an admiral looking over your shoulder,” Biden reportedly told Jean-Pierre when she was named press secretary.