The job of White House press secretary has never been an easy one. The person filling this role has to be the second-most visible face of an administration, after the president himself, answering questions from the media on virtually any topic on a weekly basis.
Under Donald Trump, though, the job takes on a whole new level of difficulty, because his press secretary has to make sure they survive the onslaught of the media while also never contradicting the often bizarre and ridiculous pronouncements the president makes on a daily basis.
A normal press secretary has to defend the policy decisions of their boss, the scandals of their colleagues, and the occasional gaffe on a hot mic. Trump’s press secretaries have to explain why the president appeared to tell the public to inject themselves with bleach (a reference to Trump questioning publicly whether disinfectants could be injected treat Covid – Trump later claimed this was sarcasm), defend his endless claims that he won the 2020 election, shrug off endless questions about the Trump family’s business practices, and explain Trump’s social media posts.
Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise that Karoline Leavitt – the current press secretary – is leaving the job at the end of the month. Somewhat oddly, given Leavitt talks to the media for a living, her departure was announced by Trump himself via Truth Social.
