White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s hypocrisy is resurfacing again after she delivered an emotional speech at the Kennedy Center that’s attracting online attention for all the wrong reasons.
Leavitt was present on Sunday along with several members of President Donald Trump’s administration to honor 31-year-old right-wing media personality, Charlie Kirk, who was killed the week prior.
Leavitt gushingly praised the conservative pundit at the vigil, saying he “offered us an alternative path” to the “influential voices … brainwashing young people.”
“When so many influential voices in our society are brainwashing young people to abandon our faith, to stay single, not to have children and to bash our country … offered us an alternative path,” Leavitt pontificated.
“He encouraged young people to get married and to have children. And as a young person who has done it, I encourage you to do that as well. It’s the best thing in life. It is the ultimate legacy that we can leave and our most important mission on this earth,” Leavitt declared.
But Leavitt seems to observe the faith when it suits her.
She gave birth out of wedlock in 2024 almost six months before she married a wealthy businessman 32 years her senior, Nicholas Riccio, in early 2025. That means Leavitt was engaging in premarital sex, which goes against Christian teaching and ideology.
And social media wasn’t about to let her forget that tiny little detail that shredded her shaming takedown.
“Didn’t her old man boyfriend impregnate her before they were married?” Threads user Mike Newell pointed out.
“She wasn’t married when she had her baby! Whoops!, joked Holt. While another followed right behind with an emoji filled response, “😅👏👏 ohh what a traditional faith driven woman 🤣🥴🥴”
Threads user Robrt Mark Wade took offense at Leavitt’s pontification on the importance of marriage and having children. “Getting married, having kids, and being a patriot have nothing to do with being a followers of Jesus. You show love for God and Love for your neighbor especially the neighbor you don’t like.”
“Leavitt to Karolying to spew the same BS over and over again,” another mused with clever wordplay that played on Leavitt’s popular nickname.
Some just weren’t in the mood to be lectured by Leavitt, “She married a 70 year old man for money. She’s in no position to lecture young people.”
Another added in response, “Ladies, imagine being lectured by a woman who married an old sugar daddy.”
Threads user Derek Tebo Thibeault said it pretty well and essentially summed up what was once mainstream ideology in the U.S. for most Americans for many decades before right-extremism took over the Republican party over the past 20 years.
Referring to Leavitt’s “brainwashing” jab, “It’s not being brain-washed, it’s living our own lives. Quit telling people how to live their lives. If you want kids, find someone who wants kids too and have them. If you want to be married, find someone to marry. If you don’t want to do those things, then don’t. It’s pretty simple.
Leavitt’s commitment to her faith has come under criticism before with a particular fashion accessory, one she wore on Sunday.
Trump’s press secretary is often seen with a diamond cross necklace prominently adorned around her neck. But while the piece serves as a call out to her faith, many have criticized Leavitt for knowingly spewing lies during her many press briefings while wearing the necklace.
Even late-night comedians joined in the joke. “I think that the more she lies, the bigger her cross gets. Is that possible? It’s like some sort of weird Pinocchio cross,” Jon Stewart said on “The Daily Show” earlier this year on June 3.
South Park also spoofed Leavitt’s pendant in an episode that seemingly caused her to tuck the accessory away for a period of time. Social media tore into Leavitt just days after the episode aired.
“Karolyn’s Leavitt can wear twenty crosses, go to church a hundred times a week, preach about her Christian values, but her actual truth is that she serves a lying, cheating, abomination and lies every day to support him,” said one viewer.
