What to Know
The way Karoline Leavitt responded to a reporter’s question about something President Donald Trump said has left a lot of people feeling genuinely confused. During an April 22 press briefing, Leavitt avoided answering a question by claiming that she’s no longer part of Trump’s “political team.” Understandably, a lot of people have been wondering what she even meant by that.
Recently, people have been questioning the stability of Leavitt’s job. Trump has joked about firing her, and some of her embarrassing blunders have gone viral on social media. But Leavitt is still serving as White House press secretary right now, so in saying that she’s not part of Trump’s “political team,” is she trying to distance herself from him and his recent behavior? After all, Leavitt has a history of bending over backwards to defend some pretty unhinged things Trump has said and done, and she has also answered political questions before, so why the sudden change?
She made this claim after a reporter asked about Virginia’s redistricting referendum.
The reporter wanted to know why Trump didn’t “campaign more actively against this referendum.” His Truth Social posts made it clear he was angry about the results (he claimed that the election was “rigged” even though he had no evidence to support this). So, the reporter asked why Trump didn’t do more to raise awareness before the election took place.
Instead of answering directly, Leavitt tried to claim this question was too political for her to answer. “That’s a question that’s political by nature,” she responded. “As you know, I’m not part of the president’s political team anymore. I do sit here at the White House as a government employee.” Um, what?
People were super confused by this.
Leavitt: That's a question that's political by nature, as you know, I'm not part of the president's political team anymore. I do sit here at the White House as a government employee pic.twitter.com/noeqZ0K68N
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2026
In a clip circulating on social media, Leavitt added, “Look, the president has a lot on his plate, a lot on his schedule. He did host a telephone call the, prior to the election, the night before. But he’s made his position on the results of the election clear to all of you.”
Still, a lot of people were hung up on the whole “not part of the president’s political team anymore” thing. In the past, Leavitt has been accused of violating the Hatch Act by making partisan political statements. However, she didn’t mention this, and also said she’s not on the political team “anymore,” which obviously confused people. “What???” someone on X wrote in response. “Have you ever heard a Press Secretary making such a statement or using that specific excuse not to answer a question????”
People were also confused by Leavitt saying the question was too “political by nature”—because which questions count as political ones, exactly, and since when has she cared about that? “So you’re telling me the White House Press Secretary isn’t going to answer any more political questions?” another person questioned. “What is she supposed to talk about then? The weather?”
Some wondered if they had missed something. “Wait…did I miss the part where she was fired?” one commenter wondered.
Others accused Leavitt of trying to distance herself from Trump.
And they think it’s too late for that, given that she has been defending him for over a year at this point. “Too late to distance urself now…u been peddling his lies all year,” a critic commented. Additionally, some people wondered whether Leavitt is preparing to “jump ship,” while others speculated that she’s going to be the next person in the Trump administration to lose her job.
Although Trump has blamed Leavitt for his “bad publicity,” he made it pretty clear that he was just joking about firing her. However, that was before Leavitt inadvertently posted something that sort of implied Trump might be seeking treatment for mental illness.
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