Trump’s 'chief gaslighter' finally facing scandal she can't spin

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt gestures during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 9, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

As disdainful as she is of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Salon's Amanda Marcotte acknowledges that Leavitt does her job well — a job Marcotte describes as "chief gaslighter of the nation." Leavitt, according to Marcotte, is a master of spin and deception.

But in an article published on September 12, Marcotte argues that with the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, Leavitt is facing a controversy that she can't spin.

"Leavitt consistently contradicts reality with ease — it's a skill that would cause mental collapse in a person with a conscience," Marcotte explains. "On Tuesday, this knack for playing dumb was on full display when she was asked by a reporter about a telling page from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's birthday book, which was revealed earlier this week by the Wall Street Journal."

Marcotte continues, "The book, compiled by Epstein associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, included a photo of Epstein holding what the Journal described as 'a poster board-sized check for $22,500.' Presented to him by Joel Pashcow, a businessman, Mar-a-Lago member and mutual friend of Epstein and Trump, the fake check was a sort of in-joke, made to appear as if Trump had sent it to Epstein. The caption said it was for a 'fully depreciated' woman that Epstein was selling to Trump."

But as hard as Leavitt tried to "ignore the obvious," Marcotte writes, this is one scandal that isn't going away — no matter how much Leavitt tries to spin new developments.

"Leavitt's efforts to maneuver her way around the implications of the check photo were slick enough, but undermined by two important points," Marcotte stresses. "First, the president's public attitudes about women are in keeping with the misogyny behind Pashcow's attempt at humor. Then, there are the experiences of at least three women who felt victimized in the world inhabited by Trump's close friend Epstein and those in his orbit…. These stories are all different, but they all offer us glimpses of the world Pashcow was referring to with his joke about Trump purchasing a 'depreciated' woman from Epstein…. When Karoline Leavitt gets behind the podium in the Brady Briefing Room and excuses, lies or otherwise deflects inquiry into Trump's association with Epstein, she's contributing to a system that allows women and girls to be abused every day without consequence."

Marcotte adds, "It's why her unblinking shamelessness is so unnerving. On some level, no matter what she tells herself at night, she is participating in the cover-up of details related to a reported sex trafficking ring. How does she even begin to sleep?"

Amanda Marcotte's full article for Salon is available at this link.

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