Former Obama staffer Karine Jean-Pierre hired by Joe Biden as senior adviser

Ahead of the U.S. general elections, Joe Biden has been building his campaign team and the latest to join is political commentator Karine Jean-Pierre as a senior adviser.

“I am thrilled to announce that I will be joining the Biden campaign as a Senior Adviser. This is the most important general election in generations and I just could not sit this election out. I look forward to doing this work with @JoeBiden and the team!,” Jean-Pierre wrote on Twitter.

Jean-Pierre, an MSNBC political analyst and chief public affairs officer for left-leaning group MoveOn, worked in the Obama White House as regional political director in the office of political affairs before working for his 2012 reelection.

As senior adviser for presumptive Democratic nominee Biden, Jean-Pierre is expected to advise him on communication and strategy on how to appeal to key communities including black people, progressives and women voters.

It is known that many young black voters didn’t come out to vote in 2016 and it’s therefore imperative to mobilize such groups as well ahead of elections, according to analysts.

“This really is the most important general election in generations,” Jean-Pierre told The 19th on Monday night. “I’ve known Joe Biden for 10 years now. I believe he’s a man of integrity, he’s a man who knows how to lead, he’s a man who knows how to use the levers of government to help people and he’s the man who could beat Donald Trump in November. For me, as a black woman, I just could not sit this out.”

43-year-old Jean-Pierre will begin her new role next week and is no longer a contributor for NBC and MSNBC following her new post, the networks said. The Martinique-born New Yorker said being hired indicates that Biden “understands how he became the presumptive nominee.”

“Black voters, black women, have helped him get to this point.”

“When everybody was counting him out, black voters spoke out. I am so proud and excited as a black woman watching how black women have exerted their power… we had to say loud and clear this (the actions of the Trump administration) is not okay.”

Jean-Pierre, apart from working for the Obama administration, was also the deputy campaign manager for Maryland governor Martin O’Malley’s 2016 presidential bid.