She was kicked out of CNN for calling it a “hostile environment,” criticized journalists for their negative coverage, and at the tender age of 27, is already a veteran of the Trump administration.
Now Karoline Leavitt is in first position to be Donald Trump’s White House press secretary if he wins the election.
Several figures in the Trump world said she had impressed the former president and was the favorite to become the public face of a future administration.
“She talks to everyone, not just Fox News, but she goes on TV and gets information, which is a big part of the job, and then she responds and is a very, very effective messenger,” said a Trump confidant. , who was granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
“The president trusts her and trust is everything to him.”
Karoline Leavitt is the favorite to become Donald Trump’s White House press secretary
Nobody knows who Trump will choose. And since his electoral victory last week, other figures have come onto the scene.
Trump lawyer Alina Habba suddenly made headlines this week as a contender, much to the surprise of the president-elect’s inner circle.
Reports cited her fierce defense of Trump during his multiple legal battles and her ease in front of the camera as driving the race.
However, his sudden emergence as a contender raised eyebrows in Trump World, which knows that the best way to get ruled out of a job is to start competing for it.
By contrast, Leavitt has kept a low profile in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, there is no shortage of other possible names inside and outside the campaign.
Former adviser Bryan Lanza (who has told friends he has other plans), CNN analyst and flamethrower Scott Jennings and political pundit Katie Pavlich have been mentioned as possible.
Then there’s Steven Cheung, who as the campaign’s communications director was the first point of contact for journalists seeking comment. But he is a rare presence on television and is considered more likely to take a position off camera.
And senior adviser Jason Miller earned praise for managing messaging.
But a friend of Trump’s told DailyMail.com that Leavitt’s age meant she was much better prepared for the grueling 14-hour days expected of a press secretary.
“And Trump loves the way she takes criticism on CNN and then responds,” he said. “She’s a star.”
Trump lawyer Alina Habba suddenly emerged as a candidate for the job this week, despite not having worked in communications before.
CNN anchor Kasie Hunt shortly before closing Leavitt
After working in the Trump White House, Leavitt ran for election in New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District, but lost to the Democratic incumbent.
Leavitt, seen here second from right alongside attorney Alina Habba, was a familiar sight in the New York courtroom where Trump stood trial earlier this year.
The Trump campaign declined to comment and Leavitt declined an interview request.
But she already has a resume full of relevant experience.
She knows her way in the White House. Like many young members of the press department, he initially joined the presidential correspondence office, helping to process and respond to incoming mail, after graduating from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire.
From there he joined the communications team under press secretary Kayleigh McEnany toward the end of Trump’s first term.
When he left office, she went to work for high-profile New York Rep. Elise Stefanik before running for Congress in New Hampshire, the state where she grew up serving ice cream at her parents’ store.
Her effort to become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress fell 15,000 votes short in the 2022 midterm elections, when the expected red wave failed to materialize.
She returned to the Trump fold within weeks, joining an allied group before joining the campaign itself earlier this year, quickly becoming a fixture on television despite being pregnant with her first child.
That did nothing to tame his fiery, bomb-throwing style.
Leavitt appears on Fox News with his former White House boss, Kayleigh McEnany.
Leavitt (far left) on stage with key members of the Trump world on New Hampshire primary night in Nashua, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Eric and Lara Trump, Sen. Tim Scott and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
In June, she clashed with CNN anchor Kasie Hunt, who took her off the air after they argued over whether the network’s journalists could be neutral moderators in the upcoming debate.
Leavitt said the debate would be a “hostile environment” for Trump and that moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash had been “biased” against him in the past.
“Ma’am, I’m going to stop this interview if you continue to attack my colleagues,” Hunt said.
After another exchange, Hunt ended his conversation and the camera abruptly stopped.
Two weeks later, Leavitt and her husband Nick became parents to baby Nicholas, unaware that the election was about to enter its most tumultuous period yet.
“I had just brought my newborn, my three-day-old baby, home from the hospital,” she said. The conservativea website for conservative women.
“And I said, ‘I’m going to turn on the TV and watch today’s rally.’
The date was Saturday, July 13. A day later, he returned to answer questions on television.
“The president literally risked his life to win this election,” he said. “The least I can do is get back to work quickly.”