The White House press secretary holds one of the most public-facing roles in a presidential cabinet. Right now, that role is held by 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt.
Amid the Trump administration’s ongoing legal and cultural battle with Harvard University over the federal funding it receives, Leavitt appeared on Fox News to discuss the situation with Sean Hannity.
President Trump is moving to cancel all of the university’s federal funding.
In a clip that’s been viewed over 4.6 million times, Leavitt attempts to diss Harvard as a “woke” leftist institution of higher education (the oldest and most revered in the country, I might add).
She says that President Donald Trump is “more interested in giving that taxpayer money to trade schools and programs and state schools where they are promoting American values, but most importantly, educating the next generation based on skills that we need in our economy and our society.”
Fox / Via x.com
Leavitt then slips up: “Apprentinships, electricians, plumbers.”
Fox / Via x.com
Did you catch that? She meant “apprenticeships.”
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“We need more of those in our country and less LGBTQ graduate majors from Harvard University, and that’s what this administration’s position is,” she says.
Fox / Via x.com
Leavitt concludes, “And we also are not gonna tolerate the illegal criminal antisemitic behavior that we saw take place at Harvard and many other college campuses across the country,” referencing the wave of pro-Palestine protests and calls for colleges to divest from Israel.
If you’re wondering what on earth an “LGBTQ graduate major” is, I’m right there with you. People who saw the clip on Twitter felt the same way.
@gotochelle / X / Via x.com
“Beyond parody,” a Republicans against Trump account posted.
@RpsAgainstTrump / X / Via x.com
Another person pointed out Leavitt’s linguistic slip. “Rule #1: if you’re going to try to make the case that we need less formal education in this country, make sure you don’t say, ‘apprentinships’ when you mean to say ‘apprenticeships’. Thank you,” they wrote.
@JoJoFromJerz / X / Via x.com
Some people joked about Trump and his cabinet shirking off their college-educated lawyers…
@FoxBrambleFarm / X / Via x.com
…and doctors.
@Daractenus / X / Via x.com
Other people took it a little more seriously. “This is a culture war soundbite designed to inflame, not inform,” this person wrote. “Devaluing scholars, because they are LGBTQ, reveals more about Leavitt’s insecurity than our educational priorities.”
@odinikaeze / X / Via x.com
“Just wait till she finds out that electricians and plumbers can be GULP….G.AY TOO!!!!!” someone wrote.
@justmartindale / @atrupar / Fox / X / Via x.com
Of course, some people were in support of Leavitt’s comments.
@Bubblebathgirl / X / Via x.com
But a whooooole lot weren’t.
@nikosunity / X / Via x.com
You can watch the full clip here.
