After Karoline Leavitt shared a photo of herself taking a selfie while reading a newspaper in the White House, it quickly went viral. Not because people immediately wanted to know where to find her bright pink pantsuit, but because the comic strip on the back of the newspaper features a political cartoon involving Donald Trump.
The comic depicts Trump as a Nazi and it was not AI-generated. So when Leavitt shared it on Instagram and then it was shared again on X (formerly Twitter), Trump critics readily pointed out the hypocrisy, conspiracy theories and Trump and Leavitt, and everything in between. You kind of had to expect it with this one.
The photo is from Karoline Leavitt’s hair stylist.
Karoline Leavitt holding up a political cartoon by Pat Oliphant depicting Trump as a Nazi pic.twitter.com/tcm1CuhAqd
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) July 30, 2026
The photo is originally from Danielle’s Instagram. In her original post, the White House hair stylist who has, judging by social media, worked with many people close to Trump, shared other photos from the photoshoot that day. In the caption, she thanked IW Features for interviewing her and gave a shout-out to Leavitt, who she referred to as “the world’s greatest press secretary.”
But the response to the image in question, with Leavitt reading a newspaper with the comic on the back, is what people were really focused on when Danielle shared the post and when it was later shared on X.
“Fake Christian Barbie selfie time,” one person replied to the X post of Leavitt with the newspaper. “Pucker up, KKKaroline!”
Another person took yet another dig at her and wrote, “Was Leavitt trying to convince her followers that she could read?”
The comic, by political cartoonist Pat Oliphant, depicts Trump in a suit with a Nazi badge on his arm. He asks, “How do I look, Herr Bannon?” The cartoonish version of White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon does a Nazi salute and replies, “Exquisite as usual, Herr Trump!”
Some think the photo was intentional.
In the comments under the X post that re-shared the photo from the stylist and from Leavitt’s respective Instagram accounts, some users suggested that Leavitt knew about the comic strip all along. According to those users, the photo was, therefore, intentional in making a cheeky joke about the Republican party knowing full well what some of Trump’s critics may think of him, but choosing to lean into it anyway.
“They aren’t even hiding themselves anymore,” someone commented on the post.
Another wrote, “This is her, ‘yes, yes, he really is a Nazi’ subtle nod.”
Someone else added, “Ah yes, Temu Eva Braun,” in reference to the German photographer who was briefly married to Hitler.
Karoline Leavitt also reposted the photo on Instagram.
You really can’t make this stuff up. The same photo used on Danielle’s Instagram was reposted by Leavitt herself in her Instagram Stories. Of course now, that Story has expired, as they often do, but someone on X took a screenshot just so the internet would remember. Let’s not get carried away, though. Just because Leavitt shared the photo, it doesn’t mean she supports the idea of seeing Trump as a dictator. It might just mean she didn’t even realize the contest of the comic strip. Maybe. Probably.
Leavitt has spoken out about comparisons of Trump to Hitler before. In 2024, she appeared on CNN and mentioned CNN anchor Jake Tapper and his alleged comments about Trump and Hitler.
“It would take someone five minutes to Google ‘Jake Tapper Donald Trump’ to see that Jake Tapper has consistently frequently likened President Trump to Adolf [Hitler],” she said at the time.
She was eventually asked to leave the interview early for bringing up Tapper’s name multiple times, seemingly in defense of Trump.
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