In an endearing moment from the White House Halloween celebration, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took her son trick-or-treating at the White House. Leavitt, 28, was accompanied by her one-year-old son, Niko, who was dressed as a pumpkin, as well as her husband Nicholas Riccio.
During the fun and sweet event at the White House, President Trump and First Lady Melania handed full-sized candy to costumed children of military, law enforcement, and foster families at the White House. Some of the families called it a “dream,” “monumental,” and “a lifetime memory.”
For example, one of the assembled children, Alex Samperio, noted that “It was really cool to be at the White House because I got to meet the president.” Likesise Shaniece Rogers, a mother, stated, “This is her first Halloween and our first experience coming to the White House. So it’s just monumental for her and for me and for her dad.”
Offering an inside look, Michael Hagen, a father and member of the White House protection staff, spoke about the lasting memories of these events. “It’s a true honor for our family to meet the president, especially these little kids. It’s the memories for them, for a lifetime. Watching them walk up there and meet the president and first lady was honestly an honor, a dream of a lifetime, and something we can show our kids — the photos and videos when they get older,” he noted,
Adding to this point, Hagen said, “A lot of meaning and a lot of history to our family, and that’s why their names are chosen that way, and I want to carry on tradition and memories, for them to have these memories when they’re older.”
Building on these comments, Jenny Hagen, the previous speaker’s wife, noted, “No matter who’s president, to be able to see them and to get candy, it’s just really special. Especially knowing how busy their schedules are, especially as the president and the first lady, for them to come out, look us in the eye, have a conversation and hand us candy, it’s just really special.”
Lastly, Secret Service member Samuel Rogers added, “I’m just glad to be able to bring my firstborn here to the White House. Hopefully, she enjoys it. Hopefully, we can come to many more.”
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While her appearance with her son made major waves, Leavitt has spent most of the last few weeks criticizing the Democrats for refusing to pass a budget, which has led to a month-long shutdown. As we reported at the American Tribune, she recently quipped, “The unnecessary pain, unfortunately, does not end there. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, which provides food benefits to low-income families, is beginning to lapse this week in some states.”
Continuing her take-down, she noted, “If Democrats continue to hold Americans hostage, there will not be enough funds to provide SNAP benefits for more than 40 million Americans on November 1, that is next week.”
Watch the clip here:
Wrapping up her comments, Leavitt stated, “Democrats are solely responsible for all of this unnecessary pain. Why are they doing it to give taxpayer-funded health care benefits to illegal aliens, some of whom are violent criminals?”
Featured image from embedded video