New Delhi: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, known for combative style during briefings, turned emotional on her final day in the role. She went on to make an unexpected comment: she would “miss working with the reporters she so often sparred with” while defending President Donald Trump’s administration.
She spoke about how press briefings and television appearances were only a small part of their jobs, and that fielding a barrage of questions day in and out would make up her whole day.
“I won’t really miss that,” Leavitt said jokingly. “But I will miss working with you guys every day.” Terming her final day “bittersweet,” Leavitt thanked the press for being her “colleagues” and “partners” at the White House.
Leavitt has time and again accused the press of bias. Earlier, in January, she rebuked a journalist for being biased with left-wing opinion. “You are a left-wing hack. You are not a reporter. You are posing in this room as a journalist.”
While Leavitt is leaving her role as press secretary, she is returning to Trump’s MAGA Inc. super political action committee (PAC). She has not disclosed what role she will take up there or when exactly she will begin.
MAGA Inc. is a pro-Trump super PAC, that raises and spends money from private donors to support Donald Trump’s political agenda.
Trump his own spokesperson
In her last interaction with the media as press secretary, she was asked if she has any advice for the yet-to-be announced replacement. Her answer got eyeballs rolling. She said that the main thing is understanding that Trump is “his own best spokesperson.”
“We joke, Stephen Cheung and me, that he is the true communications director and press secretary here at the White House,” she said. “And just understanding that, knowing that, and believing in the mission.”
Calling it an honour to work with Trump’s administration, Leavitt said she deeply believes in Trump’s agenda and that she would still be around but was only “going to the other side.”
“It was an honour to speak for him (President Trump) and relay his thinking to the public over the past 20 months,” said Leavitt.
(Edited by Aakriti Handa)