As part of her cheerleading for Donald Trump's attack on Iran on Saturday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt stepped in it on Monday during a Fox News interview.
Brought on to spin the attack on Iran that many believe has put the U.S. on the precipice of war, Leavitt cheerfully boasted to the Fox & Friends hosts, "Nobody knows what it means to accomplish peace through strength better than President Trump. He is the one who came up with that motto and that foreign policy doctrine and he successfully implemented it in his first term."
Observers were quick to note that "peace through strength" has been used by political leaders including Roman Emperor Hadrian 2,000 years ago, President Ronald Reagan more recently, GOP presidential nominee Barry Goldwater — and it was the title of a book written in 1952 by FDR adviser Bernard Baruch.
After the clip was posted to Bluesky, one commenter busted Leavitt by writing, "Goldwater and Reagan used the phrase long before Trump. He can’t even plagiarize effectively."
That was one of the nicer comments.
"This gaslight of him 'inventing' a 2000+ year old policy and idea is just putting the icing on the #KimJongTrump cake. Next, this Leavitt person will say he invented America," protested user Captain Louie.
Leavitt attributing a well-known phrase to Trump became a theme for several commenters.
"'Oh and you know that saying 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'? That was also Trump. He also coined the term 'Let there be light'," wrote Chairman Meow with Noah Joad contributing, "He also invented the Cobb Salad," and Zenbeatle writing, "He also invented pizza!"
"Despicable. Shameful. Every word she speaks is a lie - or at least completely false and wrong. She’s either stupid, evil, ambitious, programmed or vapid. Or all of it. Her family should be ashamed," Juile Pelkan wrote.
"I’m so sick of this North Korea level of propaganda," added Stretch Cunningham, which led to another commenter to suggest, "The level of sheer idiocy and pandering to Trump’s ego that comes out of this regime is staggering!"
Noting the age disparity between Leavitt (27) and her husband (59), Kevin from Jersey quipped, "Jesus Christ that saying is older than her husband/daddy."
"How much time before they ask the Secretary of Education to ban all the books that 'suggest 'that the statement had been used by other figures since forever?" asked Paulo Lourenço.
You can see the clip below:
Leavitt: "Nobody knows what it means to accomplish peace through strength better than President Trump. He is the one who came up with that motto and that foreign policy doctrine."
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) June 23, 2025 at 8:39 AM