'Uber-Karen' Karoline Leavitt isn't as 'stupid' as critics think she is: analysis

President Donald Trump had four different White House press secretaries during his first term: Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany. Grisham, who went on to endorse Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris at the 2024 Democratic National Convention, was perhaps the least confrontational with reporters. But Spicer, Sanders and McEnany butted heads with the mainstream media on many occasions.

So far, Trump has only had one White House press secretary during his second administration: Karoline Leavitt, who has managed to be even more adversarial with reporters — and even more performative — than Spicer or Sanders.

In an article published on June 23, Salon's Amanda Marcotte lays out some reasons why she finds Leavitt even more annoying than others in the second Trump Administration.

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"I love being on Greg Sargent's New Republic podcast," Marcotte explains, "but I often have to steel myself because I know what clip he'll play for me: Leavitt scolding reporters like she's the uber-Karen, dressing down a waitress for putting three ice cubes in her tea instead of the requested two. Judging by social media, my irrepressible loathing of Leavitt's smug visage and pompous voice makes me typical of my demographic: progressive, college-educated women between the ages of 25 and 65."

Marcotte continues, "Among this set on Instagram and TikTok, making fun of Leavitt is a popular sport. I would like to report that her critics take the high road of focusing on her job as spokesperson for a wannabe dictator, but mostly, it's just about how weird and annoying she is. She's mocked for having one mode: perpetual tight-lipped outrage, as if she wants to call management on literally every person she meets."

Marcotte, a 47-year-old Gen-Xer and an outspoken feminist, notes that "women enjoy insulting Leavitt, who is only 27, for marrying a wealthy man who is more than twice her age and with whom, she admits, she has almost nothing in common."

Leavitt's critics, Marcotte notes, often attack her as "stupid" or "clueless" — but the Salon journalist disagrees, arguing that Leavitt is quite slick when it comes to promoting herself as a "handmaiden of patriarchy."

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"Not that anyone should feel sorry for Leavitt," Marcotte comments. "The more women lash out at her…. the harder she leans into her bizarre act. It's as if she's been designed in a lab to irritate feminists. She's young, talented and, before 'Mar-a-Lago face' started to creep up on her, she was beautiful. Leavitt could have done whatever she wanted, but instead, she pretends to be a figure who only exists in right-wing male fantasies…. Leavitt understands that her main assignment is trolling, and not just because she talks to professional journalists like they're nothing but a bunch of hacks."

Marcotte adds, "One reason I can confidently assert that she's not as dumb as she acts is she's undeniably swift when barfing up bad faith retorts, usually to innocent questions she's just pretending are 'attacks.'"

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