Karoline Leavitt has been confronted about President Donald Trump’s inability to get over his 2020 election loss as he prepares to deliver a primetime address reviving claims of vote rigging.
In her first press briefing since returning to work from maternity leave, the White House press secretary was bombarded with questions on Thursday over why the president is once again relitigating the 2020 election, six years after he was resoundingly defeated by Joe Biden.
“The 2020 election has had dozens of audits; the 2024 election is widely believed to be safe and secure… why is the president unable to let this go?” asked NBC correspondent Garrett Haake.
“Trump has been in office over 540 days. If what he says tonight is backed up by evidence, why hasn’t anybody been charged?” added CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
“Will the president accept the results of November’s elections?” asked CBS News’ Ed O’Keefe, a question Leavitt declined to answer.
Trump’s prime time address is expected to address foreign efforts to influence U.S. elections, in what experts warn is the latest attempt to sow mistrust in the voting system and undercut Biden’s 2020 election victory.
Leavitt insisted election integrity remains a top priority for the administration, and cautioned that the White House had not yet confirmed exactly what was in the speech.
She also urged TV networks to carry the address live and in full, so that Americans could judge for themselves.
“It will shock you,” she said.
But the prime-time address has created a headache for broadcasters, who face the task of balancing the public’s interest in hearing from a sitting president against the prospect of amplifying claims that have been repeatedly debunked.
Several major networks have declined to say in advance whether they will carry the address in full.
Republicans have acknowledged that the speech could be a political liability for their midterm election prospects, while critics, such as Democratic rising star John Ossoff, gave their own previews of what to expect.
“Here’s what’s going to happen tonight: the world’s most famous sore loser will deliver a prime-time presidential sour grapes address to pursue his six-year-old grievances about the 2020 election, while his war in the Middle East spirals out of control and the cost of living continues to rise for Americans across the country,” the Georgia Senator told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Trump’s prime-time address will take place at 9 p.m. ET tonight from the East Room of the White House, the same place he delivered a prime-time address on Iran earlier this year.
Leavitt confirmed it would center on “protecting election integrity” and could also touch on the war and the economy.
But while the White House has remained tight-lipped about the details, the president is already fundraising off the address.
An email from his Never Surrender PAC was sent out on Thursday soliciting donations and telling supporters, “in a few short hours I’m going to make an earth shattering announcement.”
Asked why the president was unable to let the issue go, Leavitt replied: “I think part of the problem is that the media has refused to acknowledge that tens of millions of Americans across the country share the concerns of this president about the sanctity of our elections.”
“I think that everyone should tune in tonight, including the people in this room, and you should report on the president’s speech and the findings that he is going to reveal in this speech with a little bit of honesty and a little bit of integrity,” she added.
