Democrats and Left-Leaning Media Run Wild With Misleading Karoline Leavitt Clip
President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he leaves the White House, Tuesday, July 15, 2025, in Washington, as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, looks on. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
A host of top Democrats and left-leaning media figures ran wild with a misleading caption applied to a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
During Thursday afternoon’s briefing at the White House, a reporter asked Leavitt, “In addition to the ballroom and the Rose Garden patio, is the president looking at any other renovations or significant kind of projects here at the White House?”
She replied:
Not to my knowledge, no. But he’s a builder at heart, clearly. And so his heart and his mind is always churning about how to improve things here on the White House grounds. But at this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president’s main priority.
A clip of the exchange shared on X by Acyn Torabi — senior digital editor for the progressive outlet MeidasTouch — was captioned, “Leavitt: At this moment in time, the ballroom is really the president’s main priority.”
There were no shortage of prominent figures who rushed to reveal that they had only read the caption, and were not aware of the full context of Leavitt’s quote.
“Good to know,” replied California Governor Gavin Newsom (D).
“Honestly, you can’t make this shit up,” chimed in Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
“Costs are exploding and people need relief. If the President can take a break from knocking down the East Wing and ballroom planning, I’d love to show him our district where many of his supporters need his help,” declared Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH).
“At least they’re finally being honest,” mused Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) who was, it must be said, not being honest.
“I’ve listened to thousands of voters in focus groups and you’ll be surprised to learn that not a single one has ever mentioned a ballroom at the White House being a priority for them,” boasted The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell.
“Well there you have it,” added Acyn’s employer.
But wait, there were so many to spread the bit of misinformation:
As of 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Acyn’s original post alone had accrued 2.1 million views on X.
