Karoline Leavitt And Kaitlan Collins' Fiery Feud Shows No Signs Of A Holiday Truce
Tidings of comfort and joy were nowhere to be found on December 11 when Karoline Leavitt held a press briefing that saw her feud with CNN's Kaitlan Collins grow into Grinch territory. While the relationship between Collins and Leavitt has often been complicated, this particularly heated spat between the White House press secretary and "The Source" host boiled over in the press briefing room.
A post on X (formerly Twitter) shows Collins hounding Leavitt about the economy, asking why the president is pushing for parents to purchase fewer toys for the holidays. Leavitt fires back that it's all in the service of bringing manufacturing back to the USA, and that means parents might have to "pay a dollar or two more." At this, Collins pushed back, spurring another heated exchange with Leavitt.
Kaitlan Collins pushes Leavitt on her gaslighting about the economy. Leavitt ends by accusing her of wanting to "push untrue narratives about the president" pic.twitter.com/vc6509xbGY
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 11, 2025
When Collins tried to ask a question about the "mixed signals" coming from the White House around prices and the economy, Leavitt got noticeably animated. While trying to push the narrative that inflation is down, Leavitt lurched into passive aggressive territory, claiming no one wanted to ask her predecessor, history-making Karine Jean-Pierre, hard questions. Leavitt seemed bitter, especially when bemoaning that "people like you just took her at her word." Then, before refusing a follow-up question from Collins, Leavitt stated, "Everything I am telling you is the truth backed by real, factual data, and you just don't want to report on it because you want to push untrue narratives about the president." However, it was Collins who ultimately got the final word.
Kaitlan Collins used social media to push back against Karoline Leavitt
Though the feud simmering between Kaitlan Collins and Karoline Leavitt often stays in the briefing room, this time it seeped out onto social media. When Leavitt refused to hear Collins' follow-up question about the economy on December 11, the CNN reporter took matters into her own hands.
It appears as if Leavitt's assertion that everything she was spewing from the podium was factual rubbed Collins the wrong way. Leavitt had claimed that the economy was improving, small businesses were benefiting, and that inflation numbers were down to "2.5 percent." In response to this, Collins posted to X that "the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, put annual inflation at 2.8%." Significantly higher than what Leavitt was trying to claim.
Plus, per the CNN link Collins shared, there's evidence to suggest small business owners "are hurting from tariffs, from high costs, and from expensive financing." All things Leavitt tried to assert were actually helping. Considering how adamant Leavitt was that she was correct, Collins' calm, casual response feels like it's sure to get under Leavitt's skin. Perhaps this explains how Collins seems to rattle Leavitt into being petty.