Who speaks for Joe Biden? That's the question being fought over inside the White House according to a new report. 

Current White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is apparently not a big fan of John Kirby, who heads up communications for the National Security Council, encroaching on her territory. Since the outset of the ongoing Hamas-Israel war following October 7th, Kirby has taken a more prominent role, often sharing the podium and making statements that directly counter the far left.

🚨🚨SCOOP-> White House podium battle: Tensions grow between Jean-Pierre and Kirby over who speaks for Biden. https://t.co/GWuwNvEM08

— Jim VandeHei (@JimVandeHei) January 5, 2024

They share a podium — and a mutual frustration. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the National Security Council's John Kirby frequently split the podium at media briefings, but behind the scenes their relationship is fraught with tension, White House sources tell Axios.

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Zoom in:  Some of the tension stems from how much time each gets at the podium each day.

• Kirby — a Biden favorite who has become the public face of the administration's response to the Israel-Hamas war — has told people he'd like to be White House press secretary one day.
• Jean-Pierre has told people she plans to stay in the job through the election and beyond if Biden wants her — and that he has asked her not to leave. 

The first thing that stands out to me is why anyone would want the job of being Biden's press secretary, much less putting in the effort to fight over it. Still, it's surprising to see that these leaks are happening, and none of this is by accident. 

Jean-Pierre has been an absolute disaster as press secretary. Her inability to handle questions and her penchant for making blatant mistakes while relying on reading verbatim from a pre-crafted binder has earned her a reputation as one of the current president's worst hires. Kirby, for whatever flaws he has, is a much better spokesperson. I would think that's not sitting well with Jean-Pierre, who is almost certainly out of a job if Biden wins re-election (and should have been fired long ago). 

See: Karine Jean-Pierre Makes a Big Admission About Biden's Failures in Contentious Presser

• Before she became press secretary, Jean-Pierre didn't deal with many tough stories in the press, and wasn't as experienced as Kirby or Psaki in combative briefing environments.
• Jean-Pierre's defenders say the arrangement undermined her from the beginning and made a difficult job harder. Some Black Democrats in the administration and on Capitol Hill say the situation was insulting because it suggested that the first Black press secretary to represent the president needed supervision.

If she wasn't experienced, then why give her the job? Doesn't that just highlight the fact that she was obviously promoted because she checked the right intersectional boxes? And as for the complaints that the arrangement with Kirby suggests Jean-Pierre needs "supervision," well, yeah. She absolutely needs supervision given how terrible she's proven to be at her job. 

All this infighting isn't going to get better. As Biden continues to slip in the eyes of the public, and as bad as things are, they can always get worse, we are going to see more and more of these kinds of stories. The current administration is in chaos, led by a rudderless, senile man who has no ability to bring order to his own house. 

Kirby is part of a more moderate, old-guard Washington, and when that clashes with the far left that mostly staffs Biden's White House, things are going to get messy. If you thought the mutiny over Israel was bad, just wait until we get closer to the election.