CNN has baptized new White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt as a ‘spinmeister.’
The network’s fact-checker Daniel Dale accused Leavitt, 27, of spinning information regarding a pause of federal grants and loans during her first White House press briefing on Tuesday.
Leavitt was repeatedly asked about the spending freeze, and said payments for Social Security, Medicare and food stamps would not be affected. However, she was criticized for not saying what would happen to nonprofit programs like Meals on Wheels.
‘It’s a classic spinmeister tactic saying I answered that when you haven’t answered it and apparently can’t answer it right away,’ Dale said on CNN News Central.
‘There’s considerable uncertainty around the country among nonprofits of various kinds…. So they may not get direct individual payments straight from the federal government but their lives […] are very much dependent on the aid that comes through an intermediary organization.
‘And we still do not have clarity on what is happening with the funding that usually goes to those entities.’
On Wednesday president Donald Trump rescinded his order freezing trillions of dollars in federal grants as he revealed millions in waste had been uncovered in a crackdown on woke government projects.
Trump officials had argued funding should be put on hold while they ensured all government spending is in line with executive orders the president signed last week abolishing the Biden administration’s DEI agenda.
CNN has baptized new White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, as a ‘spinmeister’
The network’s fact-checker Daniel Dale, left, accused Leavitt, 27, of spinning information regarding a pause of federal grants and loans during her first White House press briefing on Tuesday. He is seen with Boris Sanchez and Brianna Keilar
But the order, issued on Tuesday, led to confusion including Medicaid portals being temporarily shut down, and aid groups warned lives were in danger as critical funding for vaccines and other health issues was frozen.
Leavitt announced a shake-up for White House reporters in her highly-anticipated first briefing on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old who made history as the country’s youngest press secretary scolded traditional media for ‘losing trust’ and said millions of Americans are instead looking to other outlets for their news.
‘We know for a fact that there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in the country about this president, about his family and we will not accept that,’ she stated. ‘We will call you out when we feel your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House.’
She announced that two seats usually reserved for White House staff would become ‘new media’ seats – and those individuals would get to ask the first questions.
Traditionally the wire service, the Associated Press, gets the first question – while the White House Correspondents’ Association dictates which outlets get which seats in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
President Donald Trump rescinded his order freezing federal funds
‘Starting today this seat in the front of the room, which is usually occupied by the press secretary’s staff, will be called the “new media” seat,’ she said. ‘My team will review the applications and give credentials to new media applicants who meet our criteria and pass United States Secret Service requirements to enter the White House complex.’
Leavitt also announced that the Trump 2.0 administration would restore the press passes of 440 whose passes were ‘wrongly revoked’ by the Biden administration.
‘We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House,’ she said.
Throughout the briefing Leavitt called on reporters from a variety of outlets – including the AP, which got the third question, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, NBC’s Peter Alexander, as well as the Daily Caller’s White House correspondent Reagan Reese – who was seated in the back row of the briefing room.
Early in the briefing she called on Brian Glenn, a reporter for the conservative outlet Real America’s Voice, who’s the boyfriend of key Trump Congressional ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
At the top she made some news – explaining that the mysterious drones spotted flying over New Jersey were authorized to conduct ‘research’ and didn’t represent a foreign threat.
She also showed off photographs of illegal immigrants who had been deported and what previous crimes the White House said they committed.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared photographs of deported illegal immigrants that listed the previous crimes that they committed
Reporters raise their hands throughout the White House briefing room during press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s first briefing of the second Trump administration
Asked later about the Trump administration’s deportation strategy, she said that every immigrant in the country illegally was a criminal.
‘All of them,’ she said. ‘Because they illegally broke our nation’s laws and therefore they are criminals, as far as this administration goes. I know the last administration didn’t see it that way so it’s a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal but that’s exactly what they are.’
‘If they broke our nation’s laws, yes, they are criminals,’ she reiterated when pressed.
When it was the AP’s turn to address the new press secretary, the reporter asked the same question of Leavitt that was given to previous press secretaries: would she pledge not to lie to the American people.
‘I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day. I commit to speaking on behalf of the president of the United States. That is my job,’ she answered. ‘And I will say it’s very easy to speak truth from this podium when you have a president who has implemented policies that are wildly popular with the American people – and that is exactly what this administration is doing.’
