White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is doubling down Friday after drawing criticism for remarks labeling Democrats’ supporters as “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals,” issuing a scathing statement repeating those claims.
Leavitt’s original comments, which she made during an interview with Fox News Thursday, swiftly drew condemnation from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who called the press secretary “sick” and “out of control” on Friday.
“I’m not sure whether she’s just demented, ignorant, a stone cold liar, or all of the above, but the notion that an official White House spokesperson would say that the Democratic Party consists of terrorists, violent criminals, and undocumented immigrants – this makes no sense, that this is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration in the middle of a shutdown,” he said.
“Hakeem Jeffries and the Democrats are lashing out because they know what I said is true,” Leavitt wrote in a lengthy post to X. “The Democrat Party’s elected officials absolutely cater to pro-Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”
The press secretary slammed Democrats for voting against a resolution condemning Hamas and accused the party of “cheer[ing] on pro-Hamas radicals while they hijacked America’s college campuses and harassed Jewish students.”
“Democrats do NOT serve the interests of the American people,” she wrote. “Hakeem Jeffries is an America Last, stone-cold loser.”