White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt enters the room to give remarks to members of the news media in the briefing room at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 19, 2025. REUTERS/Leah Millis
During a White House press briefing on Monday, a journalist from the far-right website ZeroHudge, seated in the newly designated "new media" section, posed an unusual question to Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt regarding the Department of Justice's handling of documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Cosgrove referenced the conspiracy theory known as the "Clinton body count," which suggests that numerous individuals connected to the Clintons have died under suspicious circumstances. He specifically mentioned the death of Mark Middleton, a former Bill Clinton aide, who was found dead on a Clinton Foundation property. Cosgrove then inquired when the Justice Department would release additional files pertaining to Epstein's case, particularly those that might reveal connections to intelligence agencies or blackmail activities.
Leavitt responded by directing him to the Department of Justice for a timeline.
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Social media users — including journalists and political commentators — expressed surprise at the question, noting that individuals with a history of promoting conspiracy theories now have access to the White House press room.
Political analyst Mehdi Hasan wrote on the social platform X while reacting to Cosgrove's question: "Difficult to summarize just how abnormal and weird and insane this is. There is no ‘Imagine if Biden…’ or ‘Imagine if Obama…’ equivalent scenario you can even come up with."
HuffPost's White House correspondent S.V. Date wrote: "White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt invites conspiracy theorist Zerohedge to the 'new media' seat and their 'reporter' asks about the Clinton "body count" and Jeffrey Epstein's ties to intel agencies, including Israel's. Congrats, America. Good job."
User Kathy Young wrote: "So this 'journalist's' actual purpose there was not to ask questions of the press secretary, it was to peddle an insane conspiracy theory and zing the Washington Post."
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Political podcaster Tim Miller said: "This is too insane to capture in a tweet. The guy doesn't stop rambling. It's like they pulled an addled random with a bullhorn from Lafayette Square and brought them into the briefing room with a sheaf of printed out WorldNetDaily articles."
Journalist Brian Frydenborg wrote: "The White House Press room under Trump 2.0: a farce."
Political commentator Rachel Bitecofer wrote: "Back to the beginning of when Republicans started to go crazy with 'the Clintons are mass murderers' stuff from the 90s."
"We are witnessing the North Koreaization of the American media in real time," wrote a user.
"I feel bad for the real journalists in the room," wrote another.
"The 'new media' correspondent in the White House today is conspiracy theorist and @zerohedge correspondent Liam @cosgrove_iv. Leavitt's job is pure entertainment, not news," remarked an X account.