Karoline Leavitt goes scorched earth on ‘despicable’ media as she makes bold statement about Donald Trump

Karoline Leavitt celebrated what she called a long-overdue vindication for President Donald Trump’s hard line on illegal immigration
PUBLISHED APR 23, 2025
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t hold back as she put the media on blast and defended President Trump during a press briefing (Getty Images)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt didn’t hold back as she put the media on blast and defended President Trump during a press briefing (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC: Karoline Leavitt didn’t hold back as she put the media on blast during the White House press briefing on Tuesday, April 22. 

The 27-year-old press secretary didn’t waste a second before flexing on the press, celebrating what she called a long-overdue vindication for President Donald Trump’s hard line on illegal immigration.



 

Karoline Leavitt wasn't letting the media spin slide

It all began when conservative commentator Tim Pool—filling the newly minted “new media” seat at the briefing—lobbed a question that was basically a slow-pitch softball for Karoline Leavitt to hit out of the park.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 15: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Leavitt took questions on the Trump administration's plan to block federal grants and contracts from Harvard University, deportations, a Russia peace deal with Ukraine and other topics. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 15, 2025, in Washington, DC (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

"Many of these organizations that are represented in this room have marched in lockstep on false narratives, such as the very fine people hoax, the Covington smear, and now what’s being called the Maryland man hoox where an MS-13 gang member adjudicated by two different judges, I believe, is just simply being referred to as a Maryland man over and over again," Pool began.

He was referring, of course, to the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia—a Salvadoran migrant repeatedly described in headlines as a poor, innocent "Maryland man", the Daily Mail reported.

“Now, in an effort from the White House to expand access to new companies, you’ve created this ‘new media’ seat,” he continued.

Pool asked "if there’s any plans to expand access to new companies".

“You rightfully pointed out the Maryland man story,” Leavitt responded, “which I, from this podium when The Atlantic published it on that very first day, I came to this podium and said, this is wrong.”

She wasn’t shy about calling the media out to their faces. “The press in this room have this story wrong, and we have seen more and more evidence come to the table that we have had all along," she said.

“We were always right. The president was always on the right side of this issue to deport this illegal criminal from our community. And it is despicable to see the media continue to refer to this individual as someone who is just a peaceful man living his life in Maryland," Leavitt added.

Supreme Court drama and Donald Trump's response

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the migrant in question, was deported in what the administration called an “administrative error".

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 18: U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a swear in ceremony for Dr. Mehmet Oz as the Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator in the Oval Office at the White House on April 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. In remarks after being sworn in, Oz spoke of a desire to provide America access to great care while reducing chronic disease and modernizing Medicare and Medicaid. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump arrives for a swear in ceremony for Dr Mehmet Oz as the Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator in the Oval Office at the White House on April 18, 2025, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

But the Supreme Court wasn’t having it. In a twist, the court ordered the Trump White House to “facilitate” Garcia’s return since his due process rights were violated.

The media had a field day, dubbing him the “Maryland father” and painting him as a sorry figure wronged by the Trump administration. 

Garcia is currently in El Salvador and even got a sympathy visit from Maryland Democratic Sen Chris Van Hollen, who jetted down there last week to check on him personally.

Meanwhile, Trump said on Truth Social. “This is the man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, that the courts are trying to save from being deported?” the president asked rhetorically, attaching a photo of himself holding a pic of Garcia’s gang tattoos.



 

“He was supposed to be, according to the judge and the Democrats, a wonderful father from Maryland, but then they noticed he had ‘MS-13’ tattooed onto his knuckles (and lots of really bad stories about his past!)," Trump continued, adding, “This is the gang that is, perhaps, the worst of them all. What is wrong with our Country?”

In a follow-up post, Trump pointed the finger straight at Biden and the double standards that according to him were gutting the nation’s security.

“How can Biden let millions of criminals into our country, totally unchecked and unvetted, with no legal authority to do so, yet I, in order to make up for this assault to our Nation, am expected to go through a lengthy legal process, separately, for each and every Criminal Alien,” Trump wrote, adding, “As usual, two different standards, only leading to the complete and total destruction of the U.S.A.”

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