Liberal groups defend Obama adviser Jarrett

Top liberal groups rallied to the defense of Valerie Jarrett on Friday, with leaders of Hispanic, gay rights and women’s organizations penning an op-ed hailing the senior White House adviser as a “tireless” public servant.

{mosads}The piece, published in The Huffington Post, came less than a week after a pair of high-profile stories questioned Jarrett’s role in the White House while suggesting tensions between the administration and some of the most influential progressive interest groups.

The authors include Janet Murguia, the president of the National Council of La Raza, who reportedly drew the ire of the White House after labeling President Obama the “deporter in chief” during a speech earlier this year. In a New Republic profile of Jarrett published earlier this week, an activist present in a White House immigration meeting said Jarrett spent the gathering “staring, giving Murguia stink eye.”

Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, is also listed among the authors. In the same story, Jarrett was described admonishing gay rights activists for speaking to reporters about a White House meeting.

Gay rights activists also expressed frustration with how the administration explained its decision not to pursue an executive order banning discrimination by federal contractors before the 2012 elections.

But in the op-ed, the authors praise Jarrett for being easily accessible and creating “coalitions from chaos.”

“It’s one of her greatest virtues that she doesn’t do what she does to win adoration from a certain set of Washington insiders,” they write.

The authors dismiss the criticism of Jarrett as “unsurprising” and a “cheap shot.”

“After a defeat of the incumbent president’s party in a midterm election, it’s not unusual for the knives to come out,” they write. “But usually the folks who get pilloried at least deserve it.”

Other signatories to the op-ed include Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Wade Henderson, president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and Marcia D. Greenberger and Nancy Duff Campbell, co-presidents of the National Women’s Law Center.

Jarrett herself addressed the criticism in an interview with MSNBC earlier this week, suggesting it was rooted in sexism.

“When you break glass ceilings, you’re going to get scraped — a minor scrape from a shard or two of the glass,” Jarrett said.