Karoline Leavitt has built a reputation as one of President Donald Trump’s toughest defenders, delivering combative exchanges from the White House briefing room with little hesitation.
But a candid behind-the-scenes moment away from the podium revealed a very different side of the press secretary — one she says the public rarely gets to see.
Glam sessions, in particular, have a way of loosening lips.
In a recent clip on Instagram, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confessed that her hard-edged media persona is largely performance, claiming that off camera she’s actually “silly” and “funny.”
The reveal surfaced after being shared by her hair and makeup artist, Brittany Danielle, filmed during a “glam session” before a White House briefing.
In the Instagram Story clip shared by the Daily Beast, Danielle pushes the 28-year-old press secretary to open up about who she is away from the podium persona that’s made her one of President Donald Trump’s fiercest defenders.
“Are you a funny person or are you a boring person?” Danielle asked.
“I don’t think people realize that I am silly. I’m funny, I think,” Leavitt said, laughing with her hair still in a roller.
Asked to rate herself on a scale of 1 to 10, Leavitt offered her clearest admission yet that the podium version of her isn’t the whole picture.
“Well, because when I’m out of the podium I’m getting after it,” she said, clapping her hands. “But I’m not like that in real life, so you know, you just have to get to know me to know the real me.”
At 28, Leavitt is part of Generation Z, a generation known for treating social media less like a highlight reel and more like an open diary.
Where past press secretaries kept their personal lives firmly behind closed doors, Leavitt has leaned into the generational habit of narrating her own life in real time, sharing meal prep, family outings, and now, apparently, confessions about her own personality mid-glam session.
It’s part of why the clip spread as quickly as it did.
Reaction poured in across social media, much of it unconvinced.
“So the job as press secretary is so unserious that it’s an act? A big game?” one wrote. Another added, “No. She is just without morale or a spine. She is bought. She is a lackey. She is not silly.” A third said, “’Silly’ isn’t the flex she stupidly thinks it is. What a disgrace.”
Facebook commenters piled on too.
“And we’re supposed to find that endearing??” one asked. “Silly Piggy. Trump’s her Kermy,” another wrote. Someone else said, “Silly? No! mean spirited yes!” while another asked, “What harm can it do, aside from imperil the republic?”
One commenter didn’t hold back: “No, that’s silly, she’s just a big fat liar for Trump.”
Others chimed in with “Not buying it. She’s not that deep,” and “Well, we know who’s getting fired next,” alongside “More like his lap dog,” and “How can anybody take this airhead seriously? I bet her grampa/husband is proud.”
Leavitt’s “silly” reveal comes just days after she landed in another firestorm over her outfit boarding Marine One.
She was photographed in a cream-colored pantsuit with a short-sleeved blazer, fitted white camisole-style top, and tailored trousers, finished off with oversized sunglasses and a Celsius energy drink in hand. Some observers quickly deemed her clothes too tight. Many added that she should have known that was inappropriate given her position.
Before taking her job, she was often snapped in selfies and posing for the camera in outfits appropriate for her age at the time.
Her oversharing, she thinks, is a part of her charm.
During an April 2 appearance at George Washington University alongside Turning Point USA’s Erika Kirk, Leavitt praised Trump’s media habits in glowing terms to make him seem relatable — just like her “silly” narrative.
“I try to be every day, but Donald Trump always is. That man does not miss a story. Let me tell you. He’s always reading the papers and watching the TV,” she said, adding, “He doesn’t miss anything anyone says in the whole world. I don’t know how he does it and consumes it all, and it’s a lot.”
Still, people aren’t buying it.
The portrait of her being silly has grown harder to square with how she shows up day in and day out. And perhaps her desire to bring social media to the White House was a stunt that just didn’t go as planned.
