Things got awkward quickly during Tuesday’s White House briefing when Karoline Leavitt was asked about Trump’s actions.
Jonathan Swan, a reporter from the New York Times, asked her about Trump’s decision to order the Justice Department to investigate Chris Krebs, a former government official fired in 2020 for stating the election was fair and not stolen. This, of course, was the same election Trump lost—and has never accepted. Swan pointed out that Trump once said it was wrong for a president to conduct investigations into individuals, but now he is doing that. So, he asked Leavitt, “How is that not an abuse of power?”
Leavitt responded simply: “Look, the president signed that executive order. It’s the position of the president in this White House that it’s well within his authority to do it, otherwise he wouldn’t have signed it.”
Swan to Leavitt: “The president has long said that it would be an abuse of power for a president to direct prosecutors to investigate him. Last week, President Trump explicitly directed the DOJ to scrutinize Chris Krebs … how is that not an abuse of power?” (Note that Leavitt… pic.twitter.com/uuBRIeqrGw
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 15, 2025
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So basically, it’s not abuse because Trump says it’s not. That’s not exactly comforting.
Chris Krebs was the leader of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. In 2020, he called the election “the most secure in American history.” Trump didn’t like that and fired him on Twitter. Now, using the power of the federal government, Trump is trying to dig up dirt on Krebs.
That feels a lot like something leaders in authoritarian countries do.
This wasn’t Leavitt’s first tough moment at the podium. A few days earlier, she erupted angrily at a reporter who asked a basic question. Tuesday’s briefing wasn’t much better. She looked caught off guard, struggled to respond clearly, and repeated the same line about the executive order being within Trump’s authority.
The rest of the briefing wasn’t smooth either. Leavitt gave updates on Trump’s trade war with China, which now has 145% tariffs on Chinese goods. China has retaliated against American products with 125% tariffs. This could harm the global economy. But Leavitt didn’t offer much hope. She just said, “The ball is in Trump’s court.”
As the briefing continued, Leavitt was asked about another controversial issue: immigration. The White House is facing criticism for sending people to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, one of the most dangerous prisons in the world. One man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, was deported there by mistake, even though U.S. courts had ruled he should stay in the U.S. because of gang violence in his home country. When asked about this, Leavitt repeated Trump’s claim that Garcia was a gang leader. But there’s no evidence to support that. It seemed like just another way to distract from what happened.
Leavitt also aimed at Harvard University, demanding an apology for not shutting down its diversity and inclusion programs as Trump had requested. She accused Harvard of antisemitism and pointed out that the university lost over $2.2 billion in funding. Harvard defended its actions, saying it was protecting free speech. Leavitt, however, claimed they were spreading hate.
Featured image via Screengrab
