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WH spox reveals she ended lesbian relationship with CNN host in fawning Vogue profile

September 8, 2023 | | Print Article

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre checks multiple boxes as a glass ceiling-shattering black lesbian immigrant spokesperson for President Joe Biden, and can now check another box — single.

Jean-Pierre, 49, has ended her longtime relationship with CNN anchor Suzanne Malveaux, according to a fawning profile out this week in Vogue, a magazine that never once featured Melania Trump in its pages when she was first lady.

Here’s a tiny sampling to get a feel for how ingratiating Vogue is in the puff piece: “That quality of directness — blunt, with a touch of compassion — is Jean-Pierre’s currency at the briefing podium. She meets the White House press corps almost daily — favoring bright colors and bold eye shadow when she does — and, while she’s more reserved than some of her predecessors and less likely to respond to provocation with a social media – ready retort, she has sharpened her own technique: disarm with a smile, then lay out the facts at hand.”

But the following snippet reveals the end of a relationship that has rendered KJP “a single mom who is co-parenting” a 9-year-old with her former partner:

Jean-Pierre endures fairly ruthless, sometimes frightening treatment on social media—the part of the job that Psaki tells me “crosses the line.” Still, Jean-Pierre says she has never had a “nasty” encounter in public. “People who love me are concerned,” she admits. “But I do not walk around fearful for my life or my security. That is not something I worry about. I worry more for my daughter.”

The afternoon that I visit, Jean-Pierre leaves work earlier than usual to take Soleil to a local pool. It’s clear that this is all a juggle, and it has gotten more challenging lately. Jean-Pierre and Malveaux have separated. “I’m a single mom who is co-parenting this amazing kid,” Jean-Pierre says. “Our number-one priority is her privacy and to make sure we create an environment that’s nurturing.”

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Jean-Pierre first met Malveaux at the 2012 Democratic National Convention while working on President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, according to her 2019 memoir “Moving Forward.”

“We met at a donor party being held in a nightclub,” she wrote. “I know it’s a cliché, but the truth is, I spotted her across a crowded dance floor.”

Today News Africa White House correspondent Simon Ateba responded to news of the split by noting, “It’s not clear whether she was dumped or she dumped her.”

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Social media users couldn’t avoid gossiping about the break up… here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story from X:

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Tom Tillison
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