Once praised by Donald Trump for her “machine-gun” delivery, Karoline Leavitt is now being hit with her own words after accepting a cushy Fox News perk that appears to contradict a position she once publicly defended.
At just 27, Karoline Leavitt became the youngest White House press secretary in history when Donald Trump returned to office in January 2025, quickly establishing herself as one of the president’s most forceful defenders from behind the briefing room lectern.
Trump clearly approved of her combative style. During a conversation with reporters in October 2025, he praised his spokesperson while joking about whether she could ever be replaced.
“It will never happen,” the POTUS said about his press secretary. “Look at that face and those – and those lips. They move like a machine gun, right?”
Leavitt remained one of the administration’s most recognizable faces until August 2026, when she stepped down after giving birth to her second child, daughter Viviana, in May.
‘Cannot be the best mom’
Announcing her departure, Leavitt, now 29, said that “being a mother and welcoming a new baby while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world has been the most rewarding yet challenging season of my life.”
“I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom [to] my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary,” Leavitt shared in an Aug. 12 post on X.
“I will always remain a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party,” she added.
Now, just two months after leaving the White House, the mother of two has found a new platform from which to do exactly that.
New Role with Fox News
On Oct. 5, Fox News announced that Leavitt will join the network as an on-air contributor starting Nov. 1, providing political commentary and analysis across its programming.
“I look forward to bringing my unique perspective from my experience as White House Press Secretary, along with the same energy and candor that defined my tenure, to Fox’s millions of viewers across their many platforms,” Leavitt said in a statement shared by People.
But it is where some of those appearances could come from that has attracted a very different kind of attention.
Position contradicts aggressive speech
According to the Washington Post, Fox News has agreed to build a television studio inside Leavitt’s New Hampshire home, effectively giving the former press secretary the ability to work for the network without leaving her house.
That arrangement has prompted accusations of hypocrisy because less than two years ago, Leavitt was publicly making the case for workers to return to the office.
During a January 2025 appearance on Good Morning America, host Michael Strahan questioned whether Trump’s push to end remote work for federal employees could cost the government experienced doctors and scientists.
Leavitt defended the policy.
“We know that employees are more productive and more efficient when they are working in an in-office environment and that’s what this administration expects,” she insisted. “And I think that’s what American taxpayers expect.”
“Don’t forget it’s the American people funding this government. They deserve people who are actually showing up to work on their behalf,” she added.
Now Leavitt appears poised to enjoy precisely the kind of flexibility she once argued against for federal employees, although her new Fox News position is a private-sector media job rather than a government role.
The move also comes at an awkward moment between Fox News and the president whose administration helped turn Leavitt into a national political figure.
‘MAGA and real patriots will never like Fox’
Trump’s battles with the media extend far beyond Fox. He has repeatedly attacked news organizations over coverage he dislikes, filed lawsuits against several outlets and, in September, moved to bar CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House before a federal judge ordered their access restored.
But even Fox, a network with longstanding ties to Trump, has not escaped his criticism.
On Sept. 30, Trump attacked Fox on Truth Social for giving airtime to Democrats including Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, as well as Fox contributor Jessica Tarlov, accusing the network of pushing “a completely negative narrative.”
“This is why MAGA, and real patriots, will never like Fox!” he wrote.
Warned Fox will be ‘fake news’
Just days later, Trump returned to the attack after Fox & Friends failed to carry coverage of his Ohio rally, along with other campaign events.
“Sad to see that Fox & Friends (Sunday) is not covering our packed house and incredibly enthusiastic (beyond!) rally that took place in Ohio last night, or the ones in Alabama, Texas, or Oklahoma over the past two days,” Trump wrote Oct. 4 on Truth Social.
He continued, “…We don’t like stupid Jessica Tarlov, and all of the others, that are forced down MAGA’S throats. These rallies are the hottest things out there, tremendous love in those sold-out arenas, and nothing shows up on Fox!”
He then issued the network a warning about what could happen if that continued.
“Our people want to see our rallies, and reports on our rallies, on Fox News, or they will very quickly stop watching (like I am doing right now!),” Trump shared, adding that “Fox News will soon have the ratings of fake news CNN or MSNOW (MSDNC).”
Yet while Trump threatens to switch off Fox News, one of his most recognizable former defenders is preparing to switch on the cameras from home.
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