More details around MAGA mouthpiece Karoline Leavitt’s deal with TV show The View have been revealed.
Leavitt, 29, is leaving her role as White House Press Secretary to spend more time with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, 61, and their two young children.
Her last day on the job was Thursday, with Trump’s next chief spokesperson still yet to be confirmed, although Leavitt has her own opinions on a replacement.
While she has been invited to appear on The View as a guest, CNN has hosed down reports that Leavitt was in “secret talks” to join the talk show as a full-time host.
An ABC source told CNN media reporter Brian Stelter that Leavitt “would not be a guest host” on the talk show, “or join in a more official capacity.”
The new season of The View will return next month, featuring hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and Ana Navarro, who routinely call out Trump and his administration on air.
The Daily Beast has contacted ABC for comment.
Leavitt was on safer ground on Fox and Friends on Thursday, where she gave her final official interview as Trump’s mouthpiece.
In a gushing appearance, Leavitt praised the job she was leaving after 20 months, saying it was “the honor and blessing of a lifetime” to work for Trump.
She called the role the “inventure” of a lifetime, stumbling over the word “adventure,” and said she was taking a “step back” to spend more time with her two-year-old and four-month-old children.
“They’re just at a critical time in their life when they need their mom home a little bit more,” she said.
Leavitt is planning to return to work at MAGA Inc., Trump’s super PAC, where she previously held a role as a spokesperson.
“I hope he’ll still let me on Air Force One from time to time to travel with him across the country too, just as a friend now,” Leavitt said.
When asked if she had discussed her replacement with Trump, she admitted, “of course.”
“There’s no shortage of applications,” she said. “There’s a lot of capable people who want this job, and I’ve given my advice to the president on what he should look for. And I’ll continue to do that until he makes a decision.”
Noting it was “ultimately” Trump’s decision, she said, “Press secretary and the president, you spend a lot of time together. It has to be someone he trusts fully.”
Among those reportedly in the mix for the role are CNN’s resident MAGA supporter Scott Jennings, who has quietly met with Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, since the press secretary position opened up.
Also reportedly being considered are Trump’s former personal lawyer, Alina Habba; chief of protocol and former conservative commentator Monica Crowley; White House Communications Director Steven Cheung; MAGA news personality Kari Lake; former Trump campaign spokesperson Jason Miller; and Leavitt’s Deputy Press Secretary, Anna Kelly.
