President Donald Trump has divided social media users after offering some very flattering, albeit unusual praise for White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during a recent interview.
The 79-year-old president gave the unorthodox compliments on Friday (August 1) during a Newsmax interview after Leavitt stated that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize, claiming he has “brokered, on average, about one peace deal or ceasefire per month during his six months in office.”
In response to her words, Trump gushed that the 27-year-old has "become a star," strangely adding: "It’s that face. It’s that brain. It’s those lips, the way they move. They move like she’s a machine gun."
“She’s a great person, actually. But she’s - I don’t think anybody has ever had a better press secretary than Karoline. She’s been amazing," the POTUS also shared.
Leavitt is the fifth person to serve as Trump’s press secretary and the first during his second term.
The president's remarks about her have quickly ignited a wave of criticism online. While some viewed the comments as harmless enthusiasm, others labeled them “creepy,” “cringe,” and “deeply inappropriate.”
"It isn’t creepy at all that the president is admiring his 20-something, blond press secretary for 'those lips, the way they move,'" one user reacted, while another said: "Ewwwwwwwwwwww. Why are we speaking about women like this."
"This makes me so incredibly uncomfortable," a third chimed in, while a fourth added: "He's a creepy old man. He doesn't even understand what he just said. Major yikes."
However, others say the comments were taken "out of context", with one X user adding: "Her lips are 'like a machine gun'. They obliterate the press."
In the same interview, Trump gave an eyebrow-raising answer when asked if he would consider pardoning Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was recently convicted on two federal counts of transporting individuals across state lines for prostitution.
While he didn’t rule it out entirely, he made it clear that Combs' past hostility toward him could be a factor in his thinking. “He was essentially, I guess, sort of half-innocent,” Trump said, referring to the 55-year-old's acquittal on the more serious sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges.
“Still in jail or something, but he was celebrating a victory. But I guess it wasn’t as good of a victory," he added.
The president reflected on his history with the hip hop mogul, saying they were once “very friendly,” and he “got along with him great,” but added: “I didn’t know him well.”
The relationship soured after Trump launched his political career. “When I ran for office, he was very hostile,” Trump said. “It’s hard, you know? We’re human beings. And we don’t like to have things cloud our judgment, right?”
"When you knew someone and you were fine, and then you run for office, and he made some terrible statements… I don’t know. It makes it more difficult to do," he added.