Fox News liberal commentator Jessica Tarlov turned a discussion of Karoline Leavitt’s departure from the White House into a lengthy attack on the outgoing press secretary, accusing her of dodging questions, attacking reporters, and repeatedly lying from the podium. Tarlov launched into the accusations as others praised Leavitt’s performance in the Trump administration. The segment quickly drew a backlash on X, where one commenter branded Tarlov the “poster child of nasty white liberal women.”
The exchange unfolded on “The Five” as the panel discussed Leavitt’s decision to leave her position as White House press secretary at the end of August to focus on her family. Leavitt, the youngest person ever to serve in the role, received strong reviews from several reporters who covered her briefings. Tarlov, however, pushed back against the praise and supplied viewers with her own assessment of Leavitt’s tenure.
“She has certainly proven herself to him as someone who does his bidding very well,” Tarlov said in the clip posted to X. “You know, she dodges, she attacks, she obfuscates.” Tarlov complained about the favorable assessments Leavitt received following the announcement of her departure from members of the media and from President Donald Trump himself.
“I think that the glowing reports about how well that she did, when a lot of it was giving quick quippy answers, but not telling the truth, is something that we should probably get on the record,” Tarlov continued. She announced that she wanted to “review some of the mistruths, lies, whatever it was, from the podium.” The Fox News contributor then rattled off several statements she attached to Leavitt without allowing the discussion over her departure to remain positive.
“U.S. spending $50 million on condoms for Gaza. The Epstein files are a Democratic hoax. There are no war plans sent in the Signal chat with Jeffrey Goldberg. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was a gang member, producing no evidence of it. America is becoming more affordable under Trump, and that the federal aid freeze won’t affect any individuals,” Tarlov said. She later posted the segment to her own X account, where she again accused Leavitt of having “dodged, attacked, and obfuscated for the most part.”
Watch Tarlov’s attack on Leavitt here:
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The attack did not receive the response Tarlov may have wanted from viewers who watched the segment. Responding beneath the clip, one X user wrote, “Tarlov is the poster child of nasty white liberal women.” The response received hundreds of likes as users accused Tarlov of being unable to tolerate the favorable coverage Leavitt received on her way out of the White House.
Another viewer wrote, “Jessica Tarlov is wicked jealous of Karoline Leavitt. Karoline is awesome — it makes Jessica really mad.” Another user brought shared their view of Tarlov’s own record of misrepresenting things or bending the truth on air, offering , “That’s rich coming from @JessicaTarlov who literally lies about everything intentionally.”
Other users reached the same conclusion after Tarlov posted the attack from her own account. One commenter accused the Fox News contributor of being unable to conceal her resentment as Leavitt received praise from journalists and Trump allies alike. “You sound so jealous,” the user replied. Several others posted pictures of former Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, with one user saying, “☝️she was the dodger and the liar. Also probably criminally liable for her lies about Joe Biden.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.