Steve Doocy fueled speculation that top aides to President Joe Biden concocted a plan to oust White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierrein the fall of 2023, claiming he spoke with a "very high-ranking" official who confirmed the bombshell report.
CorrespondentJacqui Heinrich brought up the newly published article which claimed that top aides recruited outside allies to nudge her out the door, prompting Doocy to reveal that he spoke with a top official one night after the report went live, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Doocy mentioned the White House Correspondents Dinner on Fox & Friends, and said he was informed "that the story [about Karine Jean-Pierre] was absolutely true."
According to the New York Postreport published Friday, White House communications chief Anita Dunn, wife of Biden personal attorney Bob Bauer, told colleagues she called into powerful Democrats to explain to Jean-Pierre that it was time to consider moving on.
"There were a number of people [Dunn] asked to engage Karine," an insider alleged. "There was an effort to have some outside folks who Karine knows and trusts talk to her about why leaving last fall would have made a lot of sense for her and her career."
Top aides were reportedly striving to convince Jean-Pierre that she had already been in the job for a year and a half at that point, "which is a pretty standard tenure for a press secretary in what is admittedly a very demanding job," as part of an effort to push her out of the West Wing.
According to Doocy, he said the high-ranking official told him, "They would like her to step aside, but she just won't go."
Furthermore, chief of staff Jeff Zients was claimed to have known about the conspired scheme and "supported" it, per the report.
"Jeff and Anita were trying to find Karine a graceful exit," said the insider. "There's a huge diversity issue and they're afraid of what folks are going to say."
The report stated that Jean-Pierre, however, was not going to budge and is claimed to be determined to fulfill her role after taking over for Jen Psaki in May 2022.
"She has been pretty consistent in telling people from the minute she got the job that she was going to stay through the election," said the insider.
"I think Karine has decided to stay come hell or high water and that's that."
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Meanwhile, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates addressed the report and said the claims are "wildly false," insisting that "the reality is the polar opposite."