I recently rewatched the movie It Chapter Two with my teen daughter, who loves a good horror show (Stephen King isn't my cup of tea, but we do these things for our kids, don't we?). This won't be a spoiler because the movie came out in 2019, but the evil clown who eats people, Pennywise, is ultimately defeated after the good guys realize the way to take him down is by making him feel small. And they make him feel small by aiming stinging, yet extremely accurate, insults at the him (for instance, "You're just a stupid clown!"). Pennywise gets smaller with each pointed barb, and eventually shrinks into nothingness.
A similar thing just happened in the White House Press Briefing Room.
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Karoline Leavitt Makes History With Big Announcement
At her Thursday afternoon briefing, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt took a question from The Hill's Niall Stanage. Stanage, sounding like he was fresh off the front lines of harassing and taunting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Minneapolis and had stowed his protest sign under his seat, phrased his question in a way that fell short of even the lowest of journalistic standards, and Leavitt wasn't having it.
Here's Stanage, who hails from Northern Ireland:
Earlier, you were just defending ICE agents generally. And, earlier on, Secretary [of Homeland Security Kristi] Noem spoke to the media, and she said, among other things, that they are doing everything correctly. Thirty-two people died in ICE custody last year. One-hundred-and-seventy U.S. citizens were detained by ICE. And, uh, Renee Good was shot in the head and killed by an ICE agent.
How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?
Leavitt immediately shot back at Stanage, "Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?" To which Stanage responded, "Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably."
Let the nuking by Karoline begin.
Oh, okay, so you're a biased reporter with a left-wing opinion. Because you're a left-wing hack. You're not a reporter, you're posing in this room as a journalist, and it's so clear by the premise of your question. And you, and the people in the media, who have such biases but fake like you're a journalist – you shouldn't even be sitting in that seat.
You're pretending like you're a journalist, but you're a left-wing activist. And the question that you just raised and your answer proves your bias. You should be reporting on the facts. You should be reporting on the cases. Do you have the numbers of how many American citizens were killed at the hands of illegal aliens? And who ICE is trying to remove from this country? I bet you don't. I bet you didn't even read up on those stories. I bet you never even read about Laken Riley or Jocelyn Nungray or all the innocent Americans who were killed at the hands of illegal aliens in this country. And the brave men and women of ICE are doing everything in their power to remove those heinous individuals and make our communities safer.
And shame on people like you in the media who have a crooked view and have a biased view and pretend like you're a real, honest journalist.
An absolute masterclass in stopping the lefty narrative in its track and turning it back on the dishonest questioner. Karoline was pure fire in dealing with this left-wing activist.
Luckily, we have a split-screen video of the exchange. Watch as Stanage, our Pennywise in this situation, is made smaller and smaller with each word out of Karoline Leavitt's mouth.
.@PressSec absolutely nukes a Fake News loser:
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 15, 2026
"You're a left-wing hack. You're not a reporter. You're posing in this room as a journalist... You and the people in the media who have such biases but fake like you're a journalist — you shouldn't even be sitting in that seat." pic.twitter.com/ebZzHj7hPs
Not that this will make Niall Stanage a better person or a better "journalist" going forward, but this exchange is a good reminder to all of us to not let the left's lies and distortions go unchallenged. You never know who might be listening and learning.
Now, if you need me, I'll be looking into whether intrepid reporter Niall Stanage of The Hill ever asked a similar question of the Biden White House.
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
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