White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt sharply criticized CNN on Monday, accusing the network of ignoring President Donald Trump’s event honoring Angel Families because it did not “fit the Left’s narrative.”
At the White House event, Trump recognized families who have lost loved ones to crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. Among those honored was the family of 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley, who was killed by a Venezuelan man on February 22, 2024.
During the ceremony, Trump signed a proclamation declaring February 22 “Angel Family Day,” honoring “two survivors and 62 individuals killed by illegal immigrants,” according to The New York Post.
CNN did not carry the event live. A spokesperson for the network said it was focused on covering a historic blizzard that had shut down parts of the Northeast at the time the president held the ceremony.
Leavitt, however, did not accept that explanation.
“@CNN is a total disgrace,” she wrote on social media. “President Trump hosted a powerful event honoring Angel Families who lost loved ones at the hands of illegal alien criminals and deadly drugs – but CNN refused to cover EVEN one second of it.”
She continued, “That’s because CNN doesn’t care about the victims of illegal alien crime. They pretend to be a news organization, but they refuse to cover anything that doesn’t fit the Left’s narrative.”
Leavitt added that the network’s decision is part of why she believes CNN is “failing and losing all of their viewership.”
White House communications director Steven Cheung echoed the criticism, writing that it was “sickening and horrific” that CNN and “MSNOW” were “outright refusing to broadcast this powerful and moving event.” He added, “It’s like they don’t care about victims and their families.”
During his remarks to the families, Trump took direct aim at the media and the previous administration’s immigration policies.
“The scourge of illegal immigration, let in by the past administration — millions and millions of people from jails, millions and millions of people from countries that we don’t want to know about. Drug dealers, murderers — 11,888 murderers were allowed into our country by the Biden administration,” Trump said.
“These are the ‘Angel Families’ that we love. That for decades our government betrayed and our media totally ignored,” he continued. “I’ve seen it. When I first got involved with the Angel Families, I had a meeting. It was so sad and they got up and spoke, and the media turned off the cameras. They didn’t want to hear them. It was my first glimpse what was happening. These are sick people that cover stories like that or that don’t cover them, which is worse.”
Family members in attendance expressed gratitude for the president’s recognition and support. One parent told Trump, “And just know, President Trump, I want you to know, no matter what the fake media says about you, the American people love you and we will support you all the time.”
The event and the ensuing media clash highlight ongoing tensions between the White House and major news outlets over immigration coverage, with administration officials arguing that the stories of victims deserve national attention.
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