Progressive leader Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took a shot directly at Karoline Leavitt, calling Donald Trump’s new press secretary bad at her job.
‘In case you’re having a bad day at work, remember that at least you’re not Trump’s Press Secretary who tweets were so bad today she earned the entire administration a federal restraining order,’ the New York Democrat wrote on X.
AOC had retweeted a note from POLITICO reporter Kyle Cheney breaking the news that a judge ordered a restraining order against the Trump administration, in part, due to one of Leavitt’s previous X posts.
‘Keep talking and tweeting, girl! You’re doing great!’ the progressive ‘Squad’ founder continued to mock the press secretary.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) froze around $3 trillion in federal funding earlier this week after blasting out a confusing memo. The move outraged many lawmakers, and OMB later rescinded the order.
However, after it was rescinded Leavitt poured diesel onto the raging fire of confusion spreading about the OMB memo by tweeting, ‘This is NOT a rescission of the federal funding freeze.’
‘It is simply a rescission of the OMB memo. Why? To end any confusion created by the court’s injunction. The President’s EO’s on federal funding remain in full force and effect, and will be rigorously implemented,’ she wrote.
Federal Judge John McConnell granted the restraining order just hours after Leavitt’s post.
McConnell’s ruling to block Trump’s OMB memo called the order ‘hugely ambiguous’ and the judge indicated his choice was made partially ‘based on comments by the president’s press secretary.’
AOC had already taken shots at the press sec earlier in the week for her controversial post on X.
”To end any confusion, we are going to say one thing and do another’ This is why you should not trust a word this White House says,’ Ocasio-Cortez said skewering Leavitt’s post.
New York Attorney General Letitia James responded to Leavitt’s post on the federal freeze saying: ‘This is just more confusion and chaos. We will be in court this afternoon.’
The OMB memo would have halted taxpayer dollars from flowing to initiatives in education and health care, housing assistance, disaster relief and a host of other areas pending a review.
The administration argued the funding should be put on hold while officials ensured no publicly funded programs are ‘woke,’ and that all are in line with executive orders he signed last week abolishing the government’s DEI agenda.
The pause was not meant to target any ‘assistance provided directly to individuals,’ such as Medicare or Social Security.
But the freeze faced immediate backlash since it was not clear how it would impact programs such as Medicaid, SNAP and other government assistance.
Leavitt, 27, is the youngest press secretary to ever step into the role.
Earlier in the week she held her first White House press briefing and the room was packed with reporters wall-to-wall.
Under a sustained assault from the media, Leavitt was polished, professional, confident and gaffe-free, during her first showing.
She calmly dispatched dozens of questions and demonstrated that she had the facts at her fingertips.
Only once did she resort to her predecessor Karine Jeane-Pierre’s notorious catchphrase – ‘I can’t get ahead of the president’ – to avoid answering an inquiry.