Karoline Leavitt is joining Fox News as an on-air contributor, the network announced Monday, barely a day after her former boss, Donald Trump, went after Fox online.
Leavitt, 29, will start on November 1 and provide commentary across Fox News programs. Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said Leavitt’s experience in the White House and on the campaign trail gives her a distinct understanding of today’s political landscape.
In her own statement, Leavitt said she was grateful to keep appearing on Fox News Channel, this time as an official member of the team. She promised to bring the same “energy and candor that defined my tenure” to the network’s viewers.
The timing is hard to miss. Just before the announcement, Trump posted a complaint about the network, writing that “Fox spends more time talking to Communists, Socialists, and Dumocrats, often without rebuttal, and MAGA is not, to put it mildly, happy.” Now one of his most loyal defenders will have a regular seat on the same channel.
Leavitt left the White House in August, weeks after giving birth to her second child this summer. She said at the time that she wanted to spend more time with her two young children, which was hard to do in such a demanding job. She has not completely disappeared from politics since then. In September, she spoke at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, and she has recently appeared on Sean Hannity’s show and podcast.
She was the only person to serve as Trump’s press secretary during his second term and the youngest White House press secretary in history. At the podium, she was known for defending Trump’s policies and clashing with reporters in the briefing room. Before that, she served as the top spokesperson for his 2024 campaign, ran for a U.S. House seat in New Hampshire and worked as an assistant press secretary during his first term.
Fox is familiar territory for her. Leavitt interned at the network during the 2016 presidential election, before graduating from Saint Anselm College in 2019.
She also follows a well worn path. Two other former White House press secretaries, Dana Perino and Kayleigh McEnany, are already on Fox’s roster, along with a long list of former Trump administration officials.
