Good Riddance to Karoline Leavitt, Latest in a Long Line of Clowns

So long Karoline Leavitt, we hardly knew ye—and what we did know, we didn’t like.

Leavitt will officially step away from the podium Thursday, a relief to those of us who care about honesty in government. As press secretary, Leavitt lied all the time. She parroted the president’s fake stories, conspiracy theories, and baseless accusations. She defended his lack of transparency and antagonized his critics.

To her credit, Leavitt lasted longer than almost all of Donald Trump’s other press secretaries. She held the position from January 20, 2025, until August 27, 2026, a whopping 584 days total. This would be impressive if Trump didn’t have another 877 days left to go.

But this isn’t out of the ordinary for Trump, who Leavitt claimed Thursday is his own “best spokesperson.” Over the course of his two terms in office thus far, the president has had five press secretaries—each more ridiculous than the last.

After Trump’s first inauguration came Sean Spicer, who lasted a total of 183 days. As press secretary, Spicer was inarticulate and clown-like, and after seven months, he resigned over Anthony Scaramucci’s appointment as communications director. Spicer should best be remembered as he began: touting the crowd at Trump’s inauguration as “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.”

(Although an honorable mention should be given to the time he literally hid in the bushes to avoid answering questions.)

After Spicer’s departure came Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served for 711 days. Her style of defending despotism differed from Spicer’s shrillness. Instead, she focused on discrediting the press and deflecting from tough questions. And similarly to Leavitt, she departed from the podium in 2019 to spend more time with her children.

Stephanie Grisham served for just 282 days from July 2019 to April 2020, when she left to serve as chief of staff for the first lady. She later resigned, after Melania Trump refused to issue a statement condemning violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, and has turned into an outspoken critic of the president. Kayleigh McEnany replaced Grisham for the final 289 days of Trump’s first term—and she’s continued defending the president’s bad behavior as a host on Fox News.

Leavitt announced her departure earlier this month, following an abbreviated parental leave. (Apparently Trump wouldn’t leave her alone.) Despite Leavitt’s comparatively longer term, Trump has still managed to manufacture a mass staffing exodus from his administration.

Now Trump is hurtling toward midterm elections with record low approval ratings and without his MAGA “machine-gun” mouthpiece.