WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – President-elect Donald Trump introduced Karoline Leavitt will return to the White Home subsequent 12 months as his press secretary, making the 27-year-old the youngest White Home press secretary in U.S. historical past and notching one other huge profession benchmark.
Leavitt has been a fierce defender of Trump all through his hard-fought marketing campaign towards Vice President Kamala Harris, which included Democrats and the Harris marketing campaign lobbing assaults at Trump that he’s a “fascist” and on par with Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler, two assassination makes an attempt and crisscrossing the nation to rally assist for the previous president.
“Karoline Leavitt did a phenomenal job as the National Press Secretary on my Historic Campaign, and I am pleased to announce she will serve as White House Press Secretary,” Trump mentioned in an announcement saying Leavitt as his press secretary this month.
“Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator. I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American People as we, Make America Great Again.”
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Forward of her appointment because the youngest press secretary within the nation’s historical past – unseating President Richard Nixon’s press secretary Ron Ziegler, who was 29 when he took the identical place in 1969 – Leavitt had lengthy been in Trump’s orbit and in addition made her personal political mark with a congressional run in 2022.
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Leavitt served in Trump’s first administration as assistant press secretary earlier than working as New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s communications director following the 2020 election. Leavitt launched a congressional marketing campaign in her residence state of New Hampshire throughout the 2022 cycle, profitable her main, however shedding the election to a Democrat.
Throughout her time on the marketing campaign path for Trump this cycle, Leavitt sparred with liberal media retailers about Trump’s candidacy, fielded media inquiries in regards to the forty fifth president’s insurance policies and imaginative and prescient for the U.S., served as considered one of Trump’s prime defenders amid authorized battles and political landmines lobbed by each the Biden and Harris marketing campaign, and maneuvered an unprecedented marketing campaign cycle that noticed President Biden drop out of the operating in July amid heightened considerations over his psychological acuity and age.
She was among the many dozens of Republican elected officers and Trump supporters who joined Trump in Manhattan courtroom over the spring as he confronted trial over 34 counts of falsifying enterprise information, which Trump repeatedly slammed as a “sham” case. She additionally reported that with the job because the marketing campaign’s nationwide press secretary, she grew to become accustomed to Trump’s “sleep schedule” – which has famously solely consisted of roughly 4 or 5 hours of relaxation earlier than attending to work – and joined him at rallies throughout the nation and on the marketing campaign’s headquarters in Florida.
Leavitt at present serves because the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman forward of Jan. 20, when Trump shall be sworn in as president.
Leavitt made nationwide headlines in June, earlier than Biden dropped out of the race, when CNN’s Kasie Hunt lower her microphone off as she argued on air that CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash could be politically biased towards Trump whereas moderating a debate between Biden and the now president-elect. Biden in the end carried out terribly throughout the debate, which opened the floodgates to conventional Democrat allies calling on him to drop out of the presidential race and move the torch to a youthful technology.
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“That’s why President Trump is knowingly going into a hostile environment on this very network, on CNN, with debate moderators who have made their opinions about him very well known over the past eight years. And their biased coverage of him,” Leavitt mentioned to Hunt throughout the interview previewing the talk.
“So I‘ll just say my colleagues, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, have acquitted themselves as professionals as they have covered campaigns and interviewed candidates from all sides of the aisle. I‘ll also say that if you talk to analysts of previous debates, that if you’re attacking the moderators, you’re usually losing,” Hunt responded.
As Hunt tried to redirect the interview again to previewing the talk, Leavitt mentioned it could take only a few minutes to drag up examples of Tapper’s anti-Trump rhetoric throughout the years.
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“Ma’am, I’m going to stop this interview if you’re going to continue to attack my colleagues,” Hunt mentioned, earlier than Leavitt continued that she was “stating facts” about what CNN hosts had beforehand mentioned about Trump.
“I’m sorry, guys, we’re going to come back out to the panel,” Hunt mentioned. “Karoline, thank you very much for your time. You are welcome to come back at any point. She is welcome to come back and speak about Donald Trump, and Donald Trump will have equal time to Joe Biden when they both join us later this week in Atlanta for this debate.”
Following the mic getting lower, Leavitt informed Fox Information Digital on the time that, “CNN cutting off my microphone for bringing up a debate moderator’s history of anti-Trump lies just proves our point that President Trump will not be treated fairly in Thursday’s debate. Yet President Trump is still willing to go into this 3-1 fight to bring his winning message to the American people, and he will win.”
As Leavitt juggled the media, she additionally spent the primary six months in her function as Trump marketing campaign nationwide press secretary whereas pregnant together with her first youngster. Forward of Mom’s Day this 12 months, Leavitt touted the significance ladies and moms have throughout the Trump orbit and celebrating that in July, she would welcome her personal child.
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“Joe Biden can’t even define what a ‘woman’ is, and his Administration disrespectfully refers to mothers as ‘birthing people.’ Joe Biden has left working moms and families behind by creating the worst inflation crisis in decades, welcoming millions of illegal immigrants into our country to commit crimes, and allowing violent protests to erupt on college campuses,” Leavitt completely informed Fox Information Digital in Might.
The marketing campaign touted that it employed dozens of mothers throughout the election cycle, together with Leavitt and recently-announced White Home Chief of Workers Susie Wiles. He has additionally employed tons of of working mothers since 2016, together with high-profile names similar to Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany. RNC and Trump marketing campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez and Trump authorized spokeswoman Alina Habba are additionally each moms of younger youngsters.
“We have a really welcoming environment for children at the office, the headquarters in West Palm Beach,” Leavitt informed the Conservateur in October. “You know, we joke that on Saturdays, it’s bring-your-kid-to-work day.”
Months following the article touting the ladies and mothers on the marketing campaign, Democrats got here underneath fireplace in October after Harris marketing campaign surrogate Mark Cuban mentioned “you never see [Trump] around strong, intelligent women.”
“This is extremely insulting to the thousands of women who work for President Trump, and the tens of millions of women who are voting for him,” Leavitt shot again at Cuban. “These women are mothers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders, and they are, indeed, strong and intelligent, despite what Mark Cuban and Kamala Harris say.”
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Leavitt gave beginning to her son in July and had deliberate to take maternity depart earlier than a would-be murderer opened fireplace on Trump and his supporters at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, simply days forward of the Republican Nationwide Conference in Milwaukee. Trump was injured on the facet of his head, whereas two different rally-goers have been additionally injured, and native dad and Trump supporter Corey Comperatore was fatally shot.
Leavitt mentioned the assassination try sparked her to leap again into the marketing campaign simply days after giving beginning.
“I had just brought my newborn, my three-day-old baby home from the hospital. And I said, ‘I’m going to turn on the television and watch the rally today,’” Leavitt recounted to the Conservateur of watching the tragic and stunning rally on July 13.
“I looked at my husband and said, ‘Looks like I’m going back to work.’”
She additionally recounted that following the beginning of her son, she obtained a name from Trump congratulating her earlier than having her chat with former first woman Melania Trump.
“It was incredibly warm and kind,” she mentioned of Trump’s name. “He wanted to check in. He asked me how I was doing.” Trump then handed the cellphone to his spouse, the Conservateur reported.
“Mrs. Trump and I talked about how wonderful it is to be a mother to a boy. They spoke about their love for Barron, and the president cracked a joke: ‘We have a little boy, but he’s not so little now!’” she mentioned.
Leavitt predicted Trump would notch a win this cycle, repeatedly pointing to his message of unity and uplifting Individuals of all races and creeds, his vow to safe the border and strengthen the financial system following spiraling inflation underneath the Biden-Harris administration.
Trump was declared the victor within the race late into the night on Election Day, after sweeping battlegrounds similar to Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Georgia. He in the end secured 312 electoral votes and locked down the favored vote.
Leavitt celebrated the win because the “Greatest political comeback in HISTORY!” the place Trump “defeated the big tech oligarchs who tried to silence him, the weaponized system of justice against him, and the fake news that has lied about him and his supporters for years.”
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Simply over per week after his win on the poll containers, Trump named Leavitt as his White Home press secretary choose.
“Thank you, President Trump, for believing in me. I am humbled and honored,” she posted to her X account following the announcement.
“Let’s MAGA!”