White House Honors Departing Press Secretary's Command Of Facts By Reprinting Her Insults

WASHINGTON—The White House marked Karoline Leavitt’s final day as press secretary by praising her command, clarity, and devotion to facts, then publishing a collection of remarks she used to tell reporters what it thought of their questions.

The official tribute preserved “What a stupid question,” “You’re kidding, right?” and “You’re a left-wing hack. You’re not a reporter.” It presented the exchanges among its favorite moments from a tenure that President Donald Trump called one of the best in the office’s history.

Leavitt left after 585 days to spend more time with her two young children. She will return to MAGA Inc. and serve as an outside adviser as the president campaigns for the midterm elections. Trump has not named a successor, leaving himself available to continue serving as what Leavitt described on her last day as his own best spokesperson.

Her tenure changed who could hear that spokesperson. The administration began choosing the White House press pool itself instead of relying on the rotation organized by the independent White House Correspondents’ Association, and it created a briefing-room seat for podcasts, newsletters, and other new media. The farewell credited Leavitt with opening the room to questions from anyone.

The published record supplies a durable communications policy for whoever takes the lectern next. A question may be answered with information, or it may be answered by determining that the person asking it should not be sitting there.