White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt grew combative at Monday’s press briefing, brushing off questions about one of President Donald Trump’s aide under federal scrutiny in a bribery case that has already drawn public outrage.
But it was her ease in flatly denying what was reportedly caught on tape that left social media stunned—and set off a flurry of her most damning nickname.
According to multiple outlets, undercover FBI agents posing as business executives reportedly recorded Trump’s border czar Tom Homan last September accepting a bag filled with $50,000 in cash in exchange for promised immigration-related contracts if he returned to a second Trump administration.
The FBI and Justice Department decided to wait to see whether Homan would deliver on the bribe once Trump took office again, but then the investigation slowed and officials ordered it shut down after the 47th president took office, MSNBC reports.
Leavitt was asked about the case Monday during the daily press briefing. A reporter inquired whether Trump asked the DOJ to close the case and whether Homan has to return the $50,000.
That set the generally snarky Leavitt off on a tangent where she boldly denied Homan ever took the money even though the exchange was recorded.
“Mr. Homan never took the $50,000 you’re referring to. So, you should get your facts straight, number one,” Leavitt chastised the reporter.
It seems Leavitt was ignoring of one of the major facts in the Homan bribery investigation.
“It was recorded,” Reddit poster Depressed-Industry reminded her.
Another wondered why the press doesn’t call her out on it.
“Why don’t they push back and say this to her face? ‘He didn’t take the $50k so get your facts straight.’ ‘Uhh, it was recorded.. He definitely took it’. Make her squirm a little before she digs in deeper.”
But the brazen denial set off a slew of posts reminding Leavitt of the nickname she’s seemingly earned from the public’s view.
“Yea whatever this video is needs to be shown to the public. Deny that evidence Kkkaroline,” another Reddit user stated.
“Karolying” seemed to be the favorite, with numerous memes flooding the timeline.
Others added on X, “Karoline Leavitt slithers through lies like a serpent in Trump’s garden of deceit, enabling his every corrupt whim while Homan’s cash grab festers in plain sight; she’s not just an enabler, she’s a full-fledged accomplice in this regime’s rot. #TrumpCrimeSyndicate”
One frustrated user added, “Why does she lie? It’s clear in the file he took the cash!
Jesus! These people are such liars.”
Leavitt continued to insist the FBI targeted Homan because they knew he would be taking a government position under a new Trump administration.
“Mr. Homan did absolutely nothing wrong, and even the President’s Department of Justice, even Kash Patel’s FBI looked into this. Just to make sure they had a number of different prosecutors and FBI agents who looked into this, they found zero evidence of illegal activity or criminal wrongdoing,” she maintained with a straight face.
“The White House and the President stand by Tom Homan 100 percent because he did absolutely nothing wrong and he is a brave public servant who has done a phenomenal job in helping the president shut down the border,” she added still maintaining a straight face.
And as usual, when the administration is flailing around for someone to blame when they’re caught in a compromising situation, they, of course, blame former President Joe Biden, which is exactly what Leavitt did.
“Number two, this was another example of the weaponization of the Biden Department of Justice against one of President Trump’s strongest and most vocal supporters,” she falsely claimed.
Homan also served during Trump’s first term as acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He said during last year’s presidential campaign he would rejoin the administration if Trump won the presidential election.
