White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed disbelief on Wednesday when asked to provide examples of President Donald Trump being falsely accused of racism. The question from CBS News correspondent Ed O’Keefe followed a tribute from the president to the late civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. In his statement, Trump noted that while he has been “falsely and consistently called a racist,” he always took pleasure in helping Jackson over the decades.
Leavitt fired back at O’Keefe, stating that her office would provide a “plethora of examples” from the “internet of radical Democrats” who have smeared the president. She suggested that many in the briefing room and on network television have personally participated in these attacks. “In fact, I know that because I’ve seen it with my own eyes,” Leavitt added during the heated exchange.
The press secretary highlighted the president’s long-standing support for Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition, including providing the group with office space in the 1990s. She also noted Trump’s record on criminal justice reform and securing long-term funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). These accomplishments, she argued, are frequently ignored by a media establishment determined to paint the president as a bigot.
Leavitt pointed out that accusations of racism have been a staple of the left’s playbook since the president first announced his candidacy in 2015. Democrats and media figures have famously misrepresented his comments on the 2017 Charlottesville riots and his description of certain nations as “shithole countries.” Trump has consistently maintained that he was referring to MS-13 gang members and poor national infrastructure rather than specific races.
During the 2024 campaign, liberal commentators like Lawrence O’Donnell and outlets like MS NOW continued to claim Trump was the “most racist” occupant of the White House. Critics even attempted to compare his massive Madison Square Garden rally to a 1939 Nazi event. Leavitt dismissed these comparisons as “baseless vitriol” intended to distract from the administration’s economic success and record-low minority unemployment rates.
The briefing concluded with Leavitt promising to provide the “receipts” to O’Keefe and the rest of the press corps. She emphasized that the president celebrated Black History Month later that afternoon to further discuss his “opportunity and prosperity” agenda for all Americans. For the Trump administration, the focus remains on “Make America Affordable Again” despite what they call a decade of false narratives.