Karoline Leavitt & Husband Give Major Father-Daughter Vibes In Latest Cringey Couples Pic

As the White House Press Secretary and a public figure, there are two things Karoline Leavitt has to deal with on a regular basis: Plastic surgery rumors and jabs about her age-gap relationship with husband Nicholas Riccio. The New Hampshire native posted a carousel on Instagram celebrating Independence Day with the caption: "Best weekend of the year celebrating the best country in the world." Included were pics of Leavitt posing with her family, watching the fireworks, and attending a baseball game. But one photo stood out above the rest: Leavitt and Riccio hanging out at the beach looking decidedly not like a normal couple.

Riccio has his arm around his wife's shoulders which, normally, wouldn't look that weird. However, since the businessman is 32 years older than Leavitt — an age-gap bigger than Donald and Melania Trump's — the gesture makes it look like Riccio is a father hugging his adult daughter. Considering how Riccio is closer in age to Leavitt's parents, it's unsurprising that's how they come across. After all, Leavitt may be aging like fine wine, but the same can't be said for her husband.

While people didn't poke fun at Karoline Leavitt's age-gap relationship in the comments (this time), plenty took issue with her caption. The youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history may have had an enjoyable weekend, but sadly not everyone could say the same. Disastrous flooding surged through Texas beginning early in the morning on July 4 and has claimed over 80 lives at the time of writing — many of them young children — with tons of people still unaccounted for. Lives have been forever altered and destroyed, and Leavitt bebopping along like nothing is wrong understandably felt like a slap in the face to the constituents who were quite literally fighting for their lives. "How about the people in Texas," one person commented in response to the Trump staffer's Instagram post. "Well it was not the best weekend," wrote another, adding the hashtag: "Pray for Texas."

As a civilian, Leavitt is obviously allowed to celebrate a holiday weekend and share pics on her personal social media accounts as she sees fit. But, as a government worker and public figure, with that responsibility (and huge salary) comes the understanding that you are always working for the people you represent. As a key player in the Trump administration, Leavitt did post two tweets on X, formerly known as Twitter, that were screenshots of the president's Truth Social posts about providing aid to the people of Texas. However, Leavitt could have also shared ways for people to help the victims, or posted links to emergency services. Instead, she used her highly-visible platform to show off her fun weekend.