A former top Biden official drew sharp criticism this week after publicly questioning the intelligence and policy knowledge of Karine Jean-Pierre, the former White House press secretary who recently announced her departure from the Democratic Party.

Timothy Wu, a former Biden aide and Columbia Law professor known for shaping the administration’s antitrust policy and coining the term “net neutrality,” deleted a post in which he described Jean-Pierre as “kinda dumb” but later reaffirmed his opinion, Fox News reports.

“From a [White House] staff perspective, the real problem with Karine Jean-Pierre was that she was kinda dumb,” Wu wrote in a now-deleted post on X. “[She had n]o interest in understanding harder topics. Just gave random incoherent answers on policy.”

Wu’s remarks came shortly after Jean-Pierre revealed she had registered as an Independent and was publishing a book titled Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines. In the announcement, Jean-Pierre said, “At noon on that day [that Biden left office], I became a private citizen who, like all Americans and many of our allies around the world, had to contend with what was to come next for our country. I determined that the danger we face as a country requires freeing ourselves of boxes. We need to be willing to exercise the ability to think creatively and plan strategically.”

Wu’s comment prompted criticism online, with one X account replying, “pretty racist.” Though Wu removed the initial post, he replied beneath the critical comment to clarify, writing, “[Jean-Pierre] was not one of [them],” referring to “genius-level Black women” he said had served in the Biden White House.

Asked by another user whether Trump White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt understood executive policy, Wu replied that a good press secretary “will meet with policy staff and try and understand what the administration is doing and why.”

Symone Sanders Townsend, another former Biden staffer, also pushed back against Wu and others who made personal attacks against Jean-Pierre. “You can have a valid criticism about how she did the job, but let’s not walk down the road of disrespect,” Sanders Townsend wrote on X.

Wu has served as a law professor at Columbia since 2006 and previously ran for lieutenant governor of New York. He also held posts in the Obama administration and at the Federal Trade Commission.

In addition to Wu, at least one other unnamed figure in Biden’s circle questioned Jean-Pierre’s credibility, telling reporters: “I wouldn’t ignore what Karine has to say, but it’s not an account in which much weight will be invested — just like her briefings.”