The partner of President Biden’s historic pick to become White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, is a CNN correspondent, raising new questions about the personal nexus between cable outlets and the political sphere.
Ms. Jean-Pierre, 44, will take over for Jen Psaki on May 13, who said she looks forward to time off but has been linked to a job at MSNBC.
Ms. Jean-Pierre is the first Black and first openly gay press secretary and lives with her partner, CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, and their 7-year-old daughter.
Her appointment has been hailed as trailblazing while others raised questions about a conflict of interest for the cable network, which previously faced a firestorm over Chris Cuomo’s role in counseling his brother, former New York Gov. Chris Cuomo.
Alex Marlow, the editor of Breitbart News, raised the issue on Twitter.
“This is one of many examples of the corporate media LITERALLY in bed with the government it covers,” he wrote.
Juwan Holmes, the associate editor of the online magazine LGBTQ Nation, told The Daily Mail he expected the issue to come up but does not expect “Cuomo-level conflict of interest violations.”
Ms. Malveaux is a former White House correspondent, but her biography says she is now “the network’s national correspondent, covering national and international news and cultural events.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.