Karoline Leavitt is preparing to step down as Donald Trump’s fifth White House press secretary. Her tenure, like those of her predecessors, has been characterized by a readiness to make false statements. At her very first news conference, Leavitt claimed that the Biden administration planned to use $50 million in taxpayer dollars to send condoms to Gaza. However, this claim was directly contradicted by records from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

This pattern of misinformation is not new among Trump’s press secretaries. Sean Spicer, the first to hold the role under Trump, told what has been described as his most blatant lie during his initial briefing, insisting that Trump’s 2017 inauguration had the largest audience ever, a claim widely disputed. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Spicer’s successor, falsely claimed that FBI agents were pleased with the firing of then-FBI Director James Comey, a statement she later admitted was unfounded according to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

Stephanie Grisham, who served for nine months without holding a formal press briefing, admitted in her memoir to lying for Trump but did not acknowledge her biggest falsehood, which occurred before her tenure as press secretary. In 2018, while working for Melania Trump, Grisham defended Trump’s claim that he predicted the 2016 Brexit referendum results, despite concrete evidence to the contrary.

Kayleigh McEnany, Trump’s fourth press secretary, routinely made false statements during the COVID-19 pandemic, including deflecting questions about Trump’s use of the racist term “kung flu” for the coronavirus.

Leavitt’s departure highlights a recurring theme in Trump’s White House communications: a preference for press secretaries willing to disseminate misleading or false information.

Sources