HIGHLIGHTS: Karoline Leavitt Makes Strong Debut as White House Press Secretary

New White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made history on Tuesday as the youngest person ever to take the podium in the famed James S. Brady Press Briefing Room and field questions from the media. But despite being just 27 years old, she proved that she is more than up to the task of communicating President Donald Trump’s agenda to the American people and tangling with an oftentimes hostile press.

Leavitt began her first briefing with lengthy remarks outlining the astonishing array of policies rolled out by Trump throughout his first week in office – while also making sure to blast the Biden administration for using the White House podium to disseminate false information.

“We are correcting the lies and the wrongs that have been committed over the past four years,” Leavitt said. “Lies told to you from this podium. I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day. We ask that all of you in this room hold that same standard. We know there have been lies pushed by legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family. We will not accept that. We will call you out.”

Leavitt also made news by announcing that, in addition to restoring press passes that the Biden White House revoked, new independent media voices – not just legacy press outlets – will be given press passes as well.

“This White House believes strongly in the First Amendment,” Leavitt said. “Our team will work diligently to restore the press passes of the 440 journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked by the previous administration. We’re also opening up this briefing room to new media voices who produce news-related content and whose outlet is not already represented by one of the seats. In this room, we welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House.”

It is difficult to overstate what a monumental shift this represents in the broader media landscape. As Leavitt alluded to, public polling shows that Americans are increasingly getting their news from alternative sources like social media and podcasts, rather than more traditional sources like cable news and the legacy press.

This change not only lends legitimacy to the so-called “new media,” it also deals a devastating blow to the establishment media that has betrayed Americans’ trust. One of the last remaining advantages the establishment media enjoyed was exclusive direct access to politicians and centers of power – they were the ones who got to ask direct questions of the president and his team. That barrier, which first began to crumble amid Trump’s podcast tour last year, has now been completely destroyed.

Following her remarks, Leavitt also expertly navigated questions from members of the media, including several journalists who offered up the first attempts at “gotcha” questions for the new press secretary.

When one reporter attempted to pin the rising cost of eggs on Trump, Leavitt did not hesitate to fire back. “I’m really glad you brought this up, because there is a lot of reporting out there that is putting the onus on this White House for the increased cost of eggs,” she said. “I would like to point out to each and every one of you that in 2024, when Joe Biden was in the Oval Office – or upstairs in the residence sleeping, I’m not so sure – egg prices increased 65 percent. In this country we also have seen the cost of everything, not just eggs – bacon, groceries, gasoline – increase because of the inflationary policies of the last administration.”

Leavitt also served up what is sure to be a viral soundbite on Trump’s deportation agenda. When one reporter questioned why the administration is deporting illegal aliens who have “no criminal history,” Leavitt pointed out that the simple fact of them being in the country illegally makes them a criminal.

“Of the 3,500 arrests ICE has made so far since President Trump came back into office, can you just tell us the numbers? How many have a criminal record versus those who are just in the country illegally?” the reporter asked.

“All of them, because they illegally broke our nation’s laws and, therefore, they are criminals,” Leavitt responded. “If they broke our nation’s laws, yes, they are criminals.”

Leavitt also fielded a half dozen questions on Trump’s pause on federal grants to various agencies, dispelling liberal fearmongering that the pause would impact Social Security, Medicare, or other individual benefits. “The only uncertainty is in this room, amongst the media,” she retorted to one question about benefits. “Let me provide the certainty and the clarity that all of you need – this is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump administration. Individual assistance… that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause.”

In dispelling manufactured rumors about pauses to Social Security and Medicare, Leavitt got her first crack at what will be one of her most important roles as Trump’s press secretary: doing the media’s job for them when they want to sow confusion and chaos about Trump’s agenda and actions. While Biden’s press secretaries enjoyed the benefit of a friendly press eager to make the administration look good, Leavitt will face the added difficulty of cutting through the media spin cycle to communicate Trump’s message to the public.

Regardless of the challenges before her, if her first briefing was any indication, Leavitt has more than enough smarts and raw talent to do the job and do it well.

Shane Harris is the Editor-in-Chief of AMAC Newsline.