While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump went on a rant about all the "bad press" he's been receiving—and decided to lay the blame at the feet of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, said to the gathered press:
"I got 93% bad publicity, some people say 97%, but between 93 and 97."
"A person who gets 97% of bad… maybe Karoline's doing a poor job, I don't know."
You can see his comments here:
Then looking directly at Leavitt who was in front of him, off camera, Trump said:
"You're doing a terrible job."
Turning his focus back to the press, he added:
"Shall we keep her? I think we'll keep her."
The POTUS went on to add:
"But I get 93 to 97% bad press. Fake press. All fake."
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He then repeated the lie he always tells about both his 2020 and 2024 presidential victories, saying:
"I won in a landslide."
In 2020, Trump lost the popular vote to former First Lady, New York Democratic Senator, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, but he won the electoral vote.
In 2024, when the largest bloc of voters (36% or 89,278,948 people) didn't vote at all, Trump won both the popular and electoral votes. Of the 64% of people who voted, Trump only garnered 49.81% (77,303,568 votes) to former Democratic Senator and Vice President Kamala Harris's 48.34% (75,019,230 votes). Third party candidates drew 1.85%, or 2,878,359 votes.
A margin of 1.34% isn't a landslide, especially when 167,176,537 people chose to not vote for you.
Trump continued his tirade, saying:
"When you get 93 to 97 bad stories, bad press, and you win in a landslide, you know what that says?"
"People don't believe the press. And when people don't believe the press, that's a very bad thing for our country."
"And when you look at, let's say, the 'New York Times' or the 'Washington Post', the stories are so fake. 'Wall Street Journal' too, a lot of bad stories. I don't know what happened to them, but they're bad."
People had very different reasons for why the majority of press coverage about Trump is negative.
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Many also wondered if Trump is getting ready to give Leavitt the chop.
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Trump's first term was marked by a revolving door of staffers, including the White House press secretary.
At 26 years old, Karoline Leavitt became the youngest White House press secretary ever appointed.
Briefly serving as a deputy press secretary at the end of Trump’s first term, she became a communications director for New York MAGA Republican Representative Elise Stefanik after Trump’s 2020 loss to Democratic candidate Joe Biden.
She then served as a spokeswoman for MAGA Inc., Trump's super PAC, and became the press secretary for his 2024 presidential campaign.
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