CNN Panelist Criticizes Karoline Leavitt Over Age-Gap Relationship

CNN commentator Sophia Nelson launched a harsh public attack on Karoline Leavitt, taking aim not only at her White House exit but also at her marriage and the age difference between Leavitt and her husband.

Nelson, 59, posted her criticism on social media after Leavitt, 28, announced Wednesday that she was leaving her role to focus on her growing family.

“This young woman is a hot mess,” the CNN panelist wrote Thursday on X, formerly Twitter.

In the same post, Nelson criticized Leavitt’s personal life, writing that she was “married to an old man in his 60’s” while still in her 20s, and claimed she had “two babies now by a man 35 years older.” Nelson also called her a “WEI hire,” accused her of being “incompetent,” and said she had “no professional background.”

Nelson continued with a string of personal insults, describing Leavitt as “Blonde. Cute. Bimbo. Snarky,” while referencing the large cross she wears and adding that it gave off “Trump-Mar-A-Lago-Epstein vibes.”

The backlash followed Leavitt’s announcement that she had made what she described as a “bittersweet decision” to step away as press secretary in the Trump administration after the birth of her second child.

“Being a mother and welcoming a new baby while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world has been the most rewarding yet challenging season of my life, to say the least,” Leavitt wrote Wednesday on X.

Leavitt said that after returning to the White House following her daughter’s birth, she realized she could not give her two young children the kind of attention she felt they deserved while also meeting the relentless demands of the White House press secretary job. For that reason, she said, she had decided to leave the administration and begin a new chapter.

Her exit came just shy of a month after Leavitt returned from maternity leave on July 16 after giving birth in May to her daughter Vivi – her second child with her real estate developer husband Nicholas Riccio, 60, who she married in January 2025. 

Following her announcement, President Trump jumped on TruthSocial with a supportive message for Leavitt’s decision, which was one he could ‘totally understand and respect.’

Trump described Leavitt as ‘one of the best White House press secretaries in the history of the office’ and someone who would remain a ‘top outside adviser’ and ‘influential voice.’

Leavitt served as one of Trump’s closest confidantes, attending classified briefings in the Situation Room and counselling over major crises including the Jeffrey Epstein scandal – an unusual distinction for a press secretary.

Her replacement remains unclear and there was no official stand-in while she was on maternity leave.

She became well-known for her tenacity at the podium in the White House briefing room, frequently mirroring the behavior of her boss in attacking ‘fake news’ journalists and dishing out tongue lashings to any reporter who dares to cross the administration. 

After she entered Trump’s orbit in 2018 during the first administration, Leavitt went on to serve first as a presidential writer and then as an assistant White House press secretary.

Leavitt worked as communications director for New York representative Elise Stefanik, a close Trump ally, from 2021 to 2022.

She joined Trump’s re-election campaign as a national press secretary in 2024 and was announced as White House Press Secretary on his return to the Oval Office. 

Her resignation comes just two weeks after one of her top deputies Abigail Jackson left the White House for the private sector.

It remains unclear whether Leavitt will take on a new role or join a private company as she continues advising the president from outside the White House.

The Daily Mail reached out to the White House for comment.