Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has issued a blunt reply to a question about why she left her White House position.
Posting on her Instagram story Wednesday afternoon, Leavitt replied to a question from a follower that asked: “If you are going to be working why did you leave the press sec position?”
Donald Trump’s preferred mouthpiece then posted a smiling selfie which she captioned bluntly.
“As press sec I was working in the office 60+ hours a week, traveling the world and always on call, 24/7. Now I am home with my kids every day and doing some some TV hits. These things are not the same, ma’am,” she wrote.
Karoline Leavitt responds to a question from a social media follower about why she left the White House. / Instagram/Karoline Leavitt
The comment is an insight into the frenetic work environment that reportedly played a role in Leavitt quitting the high-profile job in August.
After giving birth to her second child on May 1, Leavitt took almost three months of maternity leave, during which time Trump, 80, often reached out to badger her about coming back.
She returned to the position in July and then announced she was leaving for good on August 12.
“She had been strongly weighing whether to quit during maternity leave, as the president would contact her often and repeatedly ask when she was coming back,” a White House insider said at the time.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and her husband Nicholas Riccio in April, when she was pregnant with her daughter. / Elizabeth Frantz / REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Since leaving the White House, Leavitt, 29, has appeared on cable news and podcasts as a commentator, and has also said she would take up a role at MAGA Inc, the Trump super PAC.
She has two children: a son, Niko, 2, and daughter, Vivian, born on May 1. Leavitt was back behind the podium in the press briefing room roughly 11 weeks later on July 16.
She lasted just under a month before announcing her departure.
“It was a very stressful job to do with her children. She never got any sleep, and she didn’t want her performance to slip either,” a source close to Leavitt said at the time. “The president did everything he could to keep her.”
Leavitt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It took Trump almost two months to choose a replacement for Leavitt, eventually landing on Katie Zacharia, a 41-year-old right-wing commentator, for the job on Oct. 9.
Zacharia is already embroiled in controversy. Picking her is said to have blindsided Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles, who is reportedly furious. Zacharia has also been accused of fudging her legal credentials.
