White House spokesperson at 39 weeks pregnant delays maternity leave and returns after White House shooting

Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokesperson who is due to give birth to her second child next month, has delayed her maternity leave and returned to work after a shooting at a White House event.
According to the Daily Mail and other outlets on the 27th local time, Leavitt, who is 39 weeks pregnant, told White House reporters on the 24th that she was leaving for maternity leave, saying, "See you again soon."
However, after a shooting broke out at a White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) dinner event held at the Hilton Hotels in Washington, D.C. on the 25th, she returned to work on the 27th local time.
At a briefing that day, Leavitt said, "I thought last Friday's briefing would be my last day answering your questions before I went on maternity leave. But in a situation where there was an attempted assassination against the president and senior Trump administration officials, I decided it was right to be here today."
Leavitt also pointed out, "No one has faced more bullets and violence than Donald Trump in recent years," adding, "This political violence stems from the systematic demonization of him by commentators, elected officials in the Democratic Party, and some in the media."

She went on to criticize those "who are trying to profit politically by falsely branding the president as a fascist or a threat to democracy, smearing him, and comparing him to Adolf Hitler," saying they are fueling such violence.
Meanwhile, Leavitt, who entered politics as a White House intern during the first presidency of Donald Trump, is regarded as the youngest White House spokesperson in U.S. history.
Born in 1997, Leavitt worked for the Trump campaign in the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections before being appointed White House spokesperson for the second Trump administration.
Leavitt is married to Nicholas Riccio, a real estate businessman 32 years her senior, and gave birth to her first son while serving as spokesperson for Trump's reelection campaign during the 2024 presidential election.

Last December, she also announced on Instagram that she was pregnant with her second child. Her due date is next month. Federal government employees in the United States are eligible for 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

newssu@fnnews.com Kim Soo-yeon Reporter