Trump White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt recently shut down a reporter on live TV when pressed about the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the federal government. The reporter suggested that Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) were facing criticism from Americans over their “chainsaw” approach to cutting spending, an assertion Leavitt quickly shut down.
“Now hearing from constituents in some traditionally read districts right now complaining about what they say is the chainsaw approach, and saying that it’s been done very sloppily in the cuts to jobs and spending. How do you respond to that criticism?” the reporter asked the press secretary.
Leavitt pushed back, pointing out that recent polls show an overwhelming consensus that Trump has delivered his campaign promises. “I love how the media takes a few critics when the overwhelming response from the American people is support for what this administration is doing. If you look at the public polling, 70% of Americans, according to CBS, believe that President Trump is delivering on the promises he made,” she said.
“There should be no secret about the fact that this administration is committed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse,” she continued. “The President campaigned on that promise. Americans elected him on that promise, and he’s actually delivering on it. And this is something that Democrats promised they would do for decades. President Trump is just the first president to get it done.”
The reporter asked a follow-up question about the fraud the Trump administration has uncovered. “We can all have our own opinion about what is wasteful spending. Republicans have raised the president for cutting wasteful spending. But fraud, of course, is a crime. So have you turned over evidence of broad to the Justice Department, and when should we expect to see those indictments?” he asked.
“That’s a clever question,” Leavitt began. “First of all, I think all Americans would agree that funding mastectomies in Mozambique is not something that the American people should be funding, or DEI programs. I think it’s fraudulent that the American government has been ripping off taxpayers in this way,” she noted.
Calling out egregious examples of fraud within the federal government, she added, “And we also do know there has been extensive fraud, particularly if you look at social security. In fact, according to an IG report from the Social Security Administration, there was $71 billion worth of fraud in one single fiscal year that we know about. And so that is a lot of fraud Peter that the government has admitted to.”
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Watch Leavitt below:
The reporter seemingly downplayed that multi-billion dollar figure, highlighting that the report covered a span of over several years. Leavitt hit back, “So are you defending $71 billion in fraud? Peter, that’s a lot of money, far too much, and that’s why this administration, why is the media so against cutting waste, fraud and abuse from the government? I don’t get it.”
The press secretary doubled down, “We won’t be deterred. We will not be deterred from people like you and the press who are clearly adamantly opposed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse, but we know that American taxpayers at home who have been struggling with an inflationary crisis don’t want their tax dollars going towards crazy DEI programs in countries overseas.”
Leavitt concluded, “They also don’t like the fact that there has been $71 billion worth of fraud in Social Security and improper payments going out the door. That’s a problem that needs to be fixed on the President Trump is going to fix up.” She shut down the reporter from further questioning, stating, “That’s your fifth question,” before moving on.
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.