Karoline Leavitt Gets Dragged After Making One Comment About Raising Her Kids

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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is now a mom of two. She and her husband, Nicholas Riccio, welcomed their first child in 2024, and their second child in May 2026. During a recent Fox News appearance, Leavitt spoke about how “blessed” she feels to be raising her kids in the United States.

Leavitt also said that motherhood has changed her perspective, but critics on social media were skeptical. The White House Rapid Response account shared a clip of Leavitt’s comments on X and garnered tons of negative comments in response.

Leavitt said children in the U.S. “can be whatever they want to be.”

And people on social media have essentially asked, in what way? Because if she’s talking about pursuing the careers they want or achieving their dreams, people pointed out how that’s looking less and less possible for younger generations. They could also think of several other ways in which the Trump administration isn’t making it easy for people to be “whatever they want to be.”

Here’s what Leavitt said about being a mom in the U.S.: “Becoming a mother changes your perspective on everything… and you realize how blessed we are to live in this country, to bring up babies in a nation where they can be whatever they want to be, where they can be safe and happy and live out their dreams. And I look forward to raising them in this wonderful country.”

People said that’s easy for Leavitt to say, considering her privilege.

Because, I don’t know, perhaps Leavitt’s experience differs from that of the average American. What Leavitt said is not particularly controversial on its own. Of course people want kids to be safe, happy, and capable of achieving their dreams. But many commenters argued that what she described does not line up with the current reality they’re living in.

“The average American can barely afford childcare,” one person pointed out in response to the clip on X. “Lucky for her that she can afford care for her two children,” someone else wrote.

Because of the current state of the economy, many critics were not receptive to Leavitt’s comments about how children can achieve their dreams. Someone commented, “Except they will never be what they want to be with this administration.. everything will be unaffordable by then.”

“Why doesn’t she just shut up?” another commenter wrote. “American kids CAN’T be whatever they want! There are no jobs!! College educations are unreachable for most, and the ones that do get in are hopelessly in debt because they have to work several low paying jobs just to pay off their stupid loans!”

Several people also made the argument that Leavitt’s claims about kids being whoever they want to be does not seem to apply to everyone. “They can be anything they want to be as long as they are cis white Christians – got it,” one person wrote.

And critics also had questions about how motherhood has changed her perspective.

Of course, what Leavitt said about thinking about things differently after becoming a mom is similar to what many parents say. However, some critics had a hard time believing it coming from her. So far, no one has observed any changes.

“Unfortunately it didn’t change her perception on lying, which she still does daily,” someone commented.

Multiple commenters mentioned the Epstein files and President Donald Trump. “Motherhood apparently didn’t change her perspective on morality,” another person added. And someone else said, “You know how some people say that becoming a parent makes you want to change and improve and be the best possible person, to set an example for the new child? Clearly @PressSec is not one of those parents, as she continues to lie to protect the guy in the Trump/Epstein files.”

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Paige Sheffield (she/her)