A new post of Karoline Leavitt’s husband has fans doing a double take.
The White House press secretary recently shared a photographic recap of her family’s Fourth of July weekend on Instagram. Leavitt’s July 7 post had seven pictures in the carousel — four of which included her spouse, Nicholas Riccio.
From the looks of it, they had quite an eventful holiday weekend with their 11-month-old-son, Niko. But, similarly to her previous family photos, Riccio became a focal point in the comment section accompanying the post.
One person wrote, “He looks black from behind. Then I thought wait a minute, she’s not faithful after all. Then I saw other pictures. I bet she loves black men though.”
The first photo — which was taken from behind — showed Leavitt holding her son on her hip while walking hand-in-hand with her husband.
Another fan wrote, “Your dad is so handsome.”
But other fans continued with their running jokes about Leavitt and Riccio’s age gap. Riccio is 60 years old, while Leavitt is 27 — which also makes her the youngest White House press secretary in history. Due to Leavitt’s role in the political space, criticism and scrutiny are inescapable, and people often take jabs at her by mentioning the more than 30-year age gap between her and her husband.
One person said, “You spend a lot of time with your grandad.”
Leavitt was shown attending a baseball game with her son in the second and third photos. Her husband was nowhere to be found in those images but President Donald Trump’s Special Assistant and Communications Advisor, Margo Martin, accompanied her.
In the fourth and sixth photos, Riccio appeared again — this time sharing some one-on-one time with his son, as they were the only two in frame. The fifth image showed the parents posing together on the beach without their son. Nicholas Jr. later reappeared in the seventh photo, featured solo while sitting on the sand.
In the fourth and sixth pictures, Riccio appeared again, this time with his son were the only ones seen in frame spending some daddy-son time together. In the fifth photo, the parents got their own photos without their son in it on the beach. But their son, Nicholas Jr., reappeared in the seventh photo in a solo shot sitting on beach sand.
For the caption Leavitt wrote, “Best weekend of the year celebrating the best country in the world.”
After viewing all the images, fans had more to say, particularly about her caked on makeup. “Ease up on the lipstick,” wrote one person. Another said, “Damn girl, gonna fix the upper lipstick application.”
A third noted, “Why is your lipstick always around your mouth? Don’t you think you pass your lips boarders?”
Since taking on the role as Trump’s press secretary, Leavitt has been pretty good about ignoring the jokes and gibes about her marriage.
She also addressed the elephant in the room head on during her February interview on “The Megyn Kelly Show.”
“It’s a very atypical love story,” she said, “but he’s incredible. He is my greatest supporter. He’s my best friend. He’s my rock.”
Leavitt and Riccio met in 2022 during her congressional campaign to represent the New Hampshire 1st District. The next year they got engaged in December and in January 2025 they tied the knot.
