By Jon Keller
Updated on: January 28, 2025 / 6:03 PM EST / CBS Boston
The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller’s, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.
BOSTON – “President Trump is back, and the Golden Age of America has most definitely begun,” declared White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as she kicked off her first press briefing.
Leavitt has New Hampshire ties
If she looks familiar, it’s because she lost a bid for Congress in New Hampshire in 2022 and was a highly visible spokesperson for the Trump campaign last year. And with former Senator Scott Brown calling on her to “give ’em hell,” Leavitt made it clear she intends to continue the president’s long-term battle against the news media; at least, those who dare challenge his spin.
“We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president,” she said during the briefing.
Playing the blame game
But it didn’t take long for Leavitt to play loose with the truth about the current explosion of egg prices.
“The Biden administration and the Department of Agriculture directed the mass killing of 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country, [and] therefore, a lack of egg supply,” she said.
Actually, a bird flu outbreak prompted the chicken culling under a federal policy adopted in 2017 – during Trump’s first term.
Confusion on White House freeze
And under a barrage of questions about the sudden White House freeze on aid programs, Leavitt first insisted concerns about programs like Medicaid, which pays health care bills for low-income people, were yet another case of media malpractice. “There’s only uncertainty in this room amongst the media; there’s no uncertainty in this building,” she said.
But that turned out not to be true.
Asked by a reporter if she was “guaranteeing here that no individual now on Medicaid will see a cutoff because of the policy,” Leavitt paused, then said, “I’ll check back on that and get back to you.”
The White House did eventually clarify that Medicaid checks will not be delayed, but the confusion was reminiscent of the chaos at airports when Trump kicked off his first term with a travel ban on arrivals from Muslim countries. And the scene at the podium was familiar as well: A presidential mouthpiece trying to put a favorable spin on everything and stick a fork in any criticism.
Leavitt handled herself well for the most part. But it’s never a good look when government blames the media for confusion it created.
Jon Keller is the political analyst for WBZ-TV News. His “Keller @ Large” reports on a wide range of topics are regularly featured during WBZ News at 5 and 6 p.m.
