Trump’s incoming press secretary once claimed that Democrats execute babies in hospital
Karoline Leavitt is the youngest White House press secretary ever. (Getty)
As Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th President, he will be bringing with him a whole new set of staff – including a new press secretary, who will handle all the many, many requests the White House is likely to receive from news organisations in the coming months.
President Trump announced several nominations at the tail end of 2024, including incoming press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who was announced as the youngest-ever White House press secretary at the age of 27.
Leavitt worked as a national press secretary for Trump’s campaign during the election and as an assistant press secretary during Trump’s first term.
Not only is she the youngest press secretary in White House history, Leavitt is the first press secretary under the age of 30 since Nixon’s administration in 1969.
Despite making headlines for being 27, Leavitt has caught the attention of the news – and Trump – before by accusing Democrats of executing babies on Fox News in 2022 and repeating the accusation in subsequent years.
She claims that the Democratic party “support abortion up until the moment of birth, any time, any where, tax-payer funded” and suggests that they are even in favour of abortion “beyond that state, after the child is born and laying on the hospital bed”.
“That is infanticide, that is execution, as President Trump called it in his statement. Joe Biden and the democrats also support taxpayer-funded abortions, forcing the American people to fund abortions when largely most Americans disagree with it,” she continued.
Here’s everything you need to know about Leavitt and her rise to the White House.
Who is Karoline Leavitt?
Leavitt was born in New Hampshire and attended Saint Anselm College on a softball scholarship.
While there, Leavitt was outspoken in her support for Trump and she frequently wrote op-eds in the school newspaper defending the President and critiquing his opponents.
Leavitt also founded the school’s first broadcasting club and worked at Hearst Television WMUR-TV as well as interning at Fox News.
She later graduated in 2019 with a BA in Communications and Political Science.
How did she get to the White House?
In between Leavitt’s junior and senior years of college, she interned with the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence.
After graduating Saint Anselm College, Leavitt returned as an intern at the same office before joining the White House Press Office as an assistant press secretary under Kayleigh McEnany.
From 2019 until Biden’s inauguration in January 2021, Leavitt worked as an assistant press secretary in the White House and subsequently became the communications director for U.S representative Elise Stefanik from New York.
Did Leavitt run for congress?
Short answer, yes. Leavitt announced that she was running for congress in New Hampshire’s 1st district in 2022, with her campaign focusing on conservative values, reduced taxes, strong law enforcement, and maintaining the right to bear arms.
The Republican primary for New Hampshire’s 1st district saw Leavitt running against Matt Mowers, who was also a former Trump Administration staffer.
Her run was supported by Lauren Boebert, Ted Cruz, and Elise Stefanik.
Mowers narrowly led polls against Leavitt ahead of the primary but Leavitt ultimately won the primary.
Trump himself congratulated her for succeeding “against all odds” but she later lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Chris Pappas.
Is Karoline Leavitt married?
Leavitt is married to real estate-focused entrepreneur Nicholas Riccio, who is notable for being 30 years older than she is.
Leavitt and Riccio got married in December 2023 and welcomed their son Nicholas in July 2024.
Posting a photo of Nicholas on Instagram, she wrote: “The best moment of my life. It’s true when they say there’s nothing comparable to the love you feel for your child.”
Leavitt took a leave of absence from working as the national press secretary for Trump’s campaign due to the birth of her child, but her leave was short-lived as Leavitt was inspired to return to work after seeing Trump’s attempted assassination on July 13.
How did this story make you feel?
