KJP Gives the Final Briefing of the Biden Administration: ‘I Hope My Presence at This Podium Has Served as Inspiration to Many Young Girls’

Jean-Pierre: “But before I even move forward to taking your questions, I want to do one of those, as the — as the former senator, now President Biden would say, one, a point of personal privilege here. Today is the 537th briefing of the Biden-Harris Administration. This is my 306th briefing and the final briefing of the administration. Before I get to all your questions, I just want to say a few things and also just give out a few thank-yous, if that’s OK. So, we had the first briefing of this administration on Inauguration Day because President Joe Biden wanted to make clear the importance of daily press briefings and the vital role that the press plays in our democracy. President Biden believed in returning the norm of regular briefings and communicating to all of you and the American people about what we are doing and why it was important. The president and all of us in this administration understand that a free press is a cornerstone of our nation and that the job you do, questioning leaders and holding the powerful accountable, is important. And as I said during my first briefing when I took over this role, we might not see eye to eye here in this room all of the time, and that is OK. The give and take that happens here is incredibly healthy and it is part of our democracy. I have been honored to partake in it with all of you. Well, most of the time I’ve been. I’ve been honored to to take it. But in all seriousness, I also said at the first briefing, I would not be here today if it were not for generations of barrier-breaking people before me. I have stood on their shoulders. I benefit from their sacrifices. I have — I have learned excellence. And I am internally grateful to them. And now I will pass the torch. It is my sincere hope that I will — that I, while I may be the first for many things at this podium, behind this lectern, I am not the last. I hope my presence at this podium has served as inspiration to many young girls out there who took — who look at me and look at this job and look at what we’ve been able to do and have — and have a similar background as me. And hopefully, they can follow their dreams and never give up and know that you can achieve great things if you put your heart and mind and be passionate about it, no matter how many barriers you may need to overcome. Progress is not always a straight line, but we all must do our part. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday is indeed today, bend it towards justice and pay it forward. I hope that, and I and many barrier-breaking colleagues in this administration have played a small role in doing just that. Standing here and having served in this role for this administration and this president has truly been the honor of a lifetime, one I am grateful for and I will never forget. But it is a job I could never have done alone.”