Karoline Leavitt is Trump’s 'pretty face for fascists': analysis

Karoline Leavitt is nearing her one-year anniversary as Donald Trump's White House press secretary, and per a new analysis of her tenure from The New Republic, her time in the role has revealed her as "a pretty face for fascists to hide behind" with "no principles" she won't put aside to defend the president's agenda.

As deputy editor Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani noted in the piece, Leavitt was the youngest person ever appointed to the role of White House press secretary, but rather than stepping up in a way that would "make her generation proud," she instead emerged as a "calculating nihilist," dedicated to creating "a version of America that is more white, more Christian, and free of leftists." In one example, Varkiani highlighted one of her earliest instances in which she "was more than happy to play along" with Trump's claims that DEI hiring practices had caused a plane crash at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, as opposed to major cuts to an aviation safety committee.

“When you are flying on an airplane with your loved ones … do you pray that your plane lands safely and gets you to your destination or do you pray that the pilot has a certain skin color?” Leavitt said. “I think we all know the answer to that question.”

In some cases, Varkiani noted, Leavitt did not simply repeat Trump's claims— she "added her own wild twist," such as when the administration ignored a court order barring it from deporting 250 immigrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Leavitt claimed that certain planes were not turned around because the order was verbal as opposed to written, "essentially rewriting the law."

"When Leavitt isn’t making up laws or simply being racist, she occupies her time by putting her foot in her mouth," Varkiani observed, highlighting the time when Leavitt, nearly a month into the recent government shutdown, said that the contentious White House ballroom project was Trump's "main priority." In another case, after decrying a judge who ruled against the administration as a Democrat-friendly "activist judge," a reporter corrected her by pointing out that Republican George W. Bush originally appointed the judge.

Leavitt's time as press secretary has also been notable for a particular instance in which she said nothing at all. Shortly before Thanksgiving, the mother of Leavitt's nephew, who had been brought to the US as a child and was in the process of acquiring a green card, was detained by ICE. Further reports uncovered that Leavitt's brother had "repeatedly threatened" to have her deported. As that story unfolded, "Leavitt didn’t say a word about it."

"Leavitt also has no principles to speak of," Varkiani concluded. "We knew this well before she became press secretary. After the January 6 insurrection, she praised her old boss, former Vice President Mike Pence, for not certifying the 2020 election — and then she deleted her tweets and ran for a House seat as an election denier. She lost handily to a Democrat, but has been failing upward ever since, as one does in MAGA Land. Now, she’s the lead apologist for a fascist president. There is nothing Trump can do that Leavitt won’t defend. So long as he’s building a whiter America, Leavitt will be there to deform the English language in his defense.