Karoline Leavitt sounded off on legacy broadcast news programs, including ABC, CBS and NBC, for the limited coverage of Sheridan Gorman’s death.
The White House press secretary addressed the case during her briefing with the press corps Monday, where she said it was “despicable” that there wasn’t more stories surrounding the killing of 18-year-old Gorman, a college freshman who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant in Chicago earlier this month.
Leavitt found herself discussing Gorman’s passing after being asked about the Trump administration possibly changing its deportation and asylum policies under new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
“While there has, of course, been a change in leadership at the Department of Homeland Security with former senator, now Secretary Mullin joining the president’s cabinet, I can assure the American people there has not been a change in policy,” Leavitt said. “It has always been the policy of this president and this administration to deport the worst of the worst illegal alien criminals from our communities. That’s something I know Secretary Mullin remains wholeheartedly committed to doing.”
She continued: “It’s something that is overwhelmingly popular with the American people, and it’s something that is necessary to protect our homeland and to prevent deaths of Americans in our country. Just last week, Sheridan Gorman, a young woman in Chicago, was shot and killed on the street walking with her friends outside of her university by a illegal alien from Venezuela, who had no right to be here in the first place.”
At this moment, Leavitt ripped into Democrats, who she slammed as “despicable,” for “currently defunding the department that’s responsible for removing illegal aliens like that,” referencing the partial shutdown sparked by a standoff over DHS funding.
She also laid into ABC News, CBS News and NBC News, slamming them as “despicable” as well for their handling of the story.
“And I would also add, it’s despicable the lack of coverage of this young woman’s case, of her life and the way that it was tragically cut short,” she noted. “I saw a survey over the weekend that I’d like to bring to all of your attention.”
Leavitt then held up a Fox News screenshot, depicting a chart touting broadcast news’ coverage of the Gorman case.
“This is the media coverage of the case of Sheridan Gorman,” Leavitt went on. “You have ABC News has spent 1 minute and 19 seconds, between two days when this case was first alerted. You have CBS, 2 minutes and 1 second. You have NBC, 23 seconds spent on the life of a young, beautiful American woman whose life was taken short by an illegal alien who should have never been here in the first place.”
The press secretary noted she was particularly exacerbated by the limited coverage given the government is “in the middle of a battle on Capitol Hill” over DHS.
“I think her life was worth more than 23 seconds on cable television,” she said. “And I think the people in this room have a responsibility to report on cases like this, because it just exemplifies why the president believes so strongly in deporting illegal aliens from our communities. “
While this is far from the first time the White House has criticized the news media, Trump’s administration infamously launched a “Media Offender of the Week” site last winter, Leavitt’s criticism of CBS is notable given Paramount-Skydance CEO David Ellison’s ties to President Donald Trump.
Though, Trump did attempt to distance himself from the Ellisons amid their bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. “For those people that think I am close with the new owners of CBS, please understand that ’60 Minutes’ has treated me far worse since the so-called ‘takeover’ than they have ever treated me before,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in December. “If they are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!”
Yet, by February, Ellison was in attendance at Trump’s State of the Union address.
