White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Is Not Currently Suing 'The View'

There has been plenty of litigation flying around the White House in the weeks since Trump first took office, but most of that litigation has been directed at the White House and its policies. Recently, though, a rumor has begun circulating that Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, is suing The View and its hosts over comments they made about her.

These claims go on to suggest that the hosts of the show are quaking in their boots over the lawsuit. Here's what we know about whether she actually filed the lawsuit, and what it would be over.

Other than these unsupported claims on the internet, there's no evidence that Leavitt actually sued The View. While the idea of a career-ending lawsuit for The View hosts might be satisfying to some on the right, it doesn't appear that one actually exists.

The reported reason behind the fictitious lawsuit is a comment that View host Joy Behar made shortly after Trump took office.

"I think that she’s probably been put in there because according to Donald Trump, she’s a 10,” Behar said. “You know that’s what it is.”

This is not the most offensive comment ever uttered on The View, and Trump has acknowledged that he has a preference for people with a certain look. Karoline previously served as a White House press intern during the first Trump administration and also worked as assistant press secretary.

Throughout her first month on the job, Karoline has already built up a reputation for being highly confrontational with the press, and for being unafraid of saying things that are misleading or untrue from the podium. Under previous presidencies, these kinds of misleading remarks would have been the cause of major controversy inside Washington, but the Trump administration's statements are so ubiquitous that the media struggles to keep up.

Although the hosts of The View questioned whether Leavitt was qualified for her job, she was not the only person that Trump has appointed to face those kinds of questions. Trump has appointed people like Pete Hegseth, who hosted the weekend edition of Fox & Friends, to lead the Department of Defense, and Kash Patel, who has no real law enforcement experience, to lead the FBI.

These appointments have often been shocking, but they speak to the way Trump evaluates the talent of those around him. What he cares about, more than a person's qualifications or abilities, is their personal loyalty to him.

What's also true, though, is that Karoline is doing exactly what Trump likely wants his press secretary to do. She is taking the fight to the media, relentlessly disseminating the message of the president, and saying whatever she needs to say to support the president. That might not be what the press secretary's job was in most administrations. In the Trump administration, though, it's hard to argue that Karoline has been out of step with what her boss wanted from her.