White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has separated from her partner of over 10 years, Suzanne Malveaux.
Jean-Pierre made the announcement of her separation from the former CNN national correspondent in an interview with Vogue magazine. The couple share an adopted nine-year-old daughter, Soleil.
“I’m a single mom who is co-parenting this amazing kid,” Jean-Pierre said. “Our number-one priority is her privacy and to make sure we create an environment that’s nurturing.”
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 26: Karine Jean Pierre and Suzanne Malveaux attend the CNN Correspondents’ Brunch at Toolbox Studio on April 26, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Riccardo S. Savi/Getty Images)
Malveaux’s previous position at CNN raised conflict of interest questions due to her partner working as she continued her role at the network after Jean-Pierre assumed her current role as the White House press secretary in May 2022. Jean-Pierre replaced former White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who stepped down on May 15, 2022. Malveaux left CNN in January 2023. (RELATED: KJP’s Twitter Account Apparently Posts Tweet Meant For Joe Biden)
The separated pair met at the Democratic National Convention in 2012, according to The Independent. They adopted Soleil in May 2014 after Malveaux led the adoption process recently after they had met, according to Vogue.
The press secretary said raising a child was previously “a thousand percent” not a priority of hers, but she devotes herself to being the parent that she wished she had, according to Vogue.
“We talk about her feelings all the time,” she told Vogue. “I ask her all the time, ‘Are you happy? How’s it going?’ and she’ll tell me. That’s the nice part—being the parent that you wish you had,” she says. “My parents were amazing, but they were trying to survive.”