Critics contend Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt isn’t the sharpest tack in the box, and she just gave credibility to that insult in a social media post where, instead of praising President Donald Trump for fast-tracking a new health initiative, she ended up implying he’s undergoing treatment himself.
The brag backfired big time after she mistakenly made it sound less like a policy success and more like the 79-year-old Trump is undergoing accelerated treatment for “Serious Mental Illness.”
In a post on X on Monday, April 20, Leavitt proudly proclaimed, “Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump is Accelerating Medical Treatments for Serious Mental Illness.”
What she is actually referring to is an executive order the president signed over the weekend to offer some psychedelic drugs for the treatment of mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, according to NPR.
At one point during the signing ceremony, when he was surrounded by acolytes, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Memet Oz, and conservative podcast host Joe Rogan, Trump quipped, “Can I have some, please?’
After Leavitt’s post about it on Monday, the internet exploded in mockery and derision.
Trump’s archrival and longtime nemesis, California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s been trolling the president on social media since Trump started his second term last January, jumped on Leavitt’s post and jokingly asked, “For himself?”
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for a response to the governor’s comment.
“Only scumbags like Gavin Newsom would attempt to mock President Trump for signing an Executive Order that will accelerate access to treatments for veterans and other Americans who are struggling,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told the outlet.
But Newsom wasn’t the only one who saw Leavitt’s post and mocked her.
“I see you’re copying the grammatically incorrect president by capitalizing words that shouldn’t be. Looks super dumb,” this X user pointed out.
Another chimed in, “Did anyone read this out loud to you before you sent it?”
Trump’s physical and mental health and his fitness for office have repeatedly made headlines over the past year.
Just in the last month-and-a-half, the president launched an unapproved and deadly war on Iran, threatened to annihilate Tehran in a social media post warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight,” lashed out at Pope Leo XIV for expressing concern about the loss of life in Trump’s war and said the pontiff wanted to see “a nuclear-armed Iran,” blamed U.S. allies for the not helping him get out of the crisis he created and more.
Trump’s health problems are well-known, too. He has bragged about taking three cognitive tests last year, which are used to assess and diagnose dementia, confusing them with IQ tests. He suffers from repeated purple bruising on his hands and swollen ankles from chronic venous insufficiency.
The White House has consistently denied that Trump suffers from any health problems and routinely gaslights reporters on any questions surrounding the president’s health.
Trump is also the oldest president to ever assume office. He was 78 years and seven months old when he started his second term in January 2025.
