Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt unloaded on members of her own generation in a TV appearance, arguing that they had been raised with “silver spoons in their mouths.”
Leavitt appeared on Jesse Watters Primetime on Thursday, where she and Watters discussed the future of the Democratic Party and the growing popularity of politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, warning of a “communist takeover” of the party.
President Donald Trump had previously responded to the results of New York’s Democratic primaries by declaring, “The Communists are finally making their move,” and assuring his followers that he has been “preparing for this for a long time.”
Referring to younger Democratic voters who support candidates like AOC and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Watters said on Thursday, “Some of these kids, and I call them kids because they are in their twenties and have never had real jobs, and they’re complaining things are expensive. Yes, things are expensive when you don’t have a real job.”
He then asked Leavitt, who is 28 years old and a member of Gen Z, “Do you think that’s getting traction? Complaining?”
“Unfortunately, I do, because this generation, my generation, I hate to say it, Gen Z and those younger than me have been raised with just silver spoons in their mouths, just getting everything handed to them. That’s not the values this country was built on,” she replied.
She continued, “It was built on meritocracy and hard work, pulling up your sleeves, pulling yourself up from your bootstraps, and achieving the American dream, and we need to protect it with all we’ve got.”
When Watters asked if the problem was laziness, Leavitt replied, “a little bit,” adding, “It’s laziness, and it’s the liberal indoctrination,” before criticizing the public education system and praising homeschooling and private education.
Experts have long noted that the viability of the American Dream has waned since the end of World War II, with some researchers saying that each successive generation has fared worse than the last.
Members of Generation Z are increasingly dissatisfied with their circumstances, having had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, underemployment, war, tariffs, and automation. Underemployment is also a major concern for young people, with college degrees no longer providing the same path to financial security that they once did.
A CNBC and SurveyMonkey survey found that 42 percent of Gen Z feel the American Dream is only achievable for some people, and just 22 percent feel they have achieved their definition of the American Dream. In addition, more than half of Gen Z have delayed major life decisions due to their financial situation, a Deloitte survey found.
Meanwhile, 68 percent of Boomers, the generation President Donald Trump belongs to, feel they have achieved their version of the American Dream. Trump himself was helped on his way by the hundreds of millions of dollars he is thought to have received from his father, Fred.
The survey from Deloitte also found that the cost of living was the biggest concern for Gen Z and millennials, reflecting similar results from other polling across all age groups on the most pressing issue facing Americans.
The president has repeatedly been criticized for his failure to address voters’ cost-of-living concerns, with inflation reaching its highest level in almost three years in April after hitting 3.8 percent.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in early June found that 70 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the cost of living, with just 22 percent approving.
“The American Dream depends on what you earn, and also how much things cost,” Elizabeth Suhay, a political scientist at American University, told CNBC. “All of this feeds into the increasing pessimism about whether the American Dream is available to most Americans.”
