WH Press Sec Karoline Leavitt Sparks Liberal Outrage With Bold New Rule
The White House made headlines on Wednesday after a spokesperson revealed that press inquiries from reporters who include their “preferred” gender pronouns in their email signatures will be ignored.
Michael Grynbaum of The New York Times reported earlier this week that the press office at the White House has “rejected emails from reporters who display gender pronouns on three recent occasions.” He pointed directly at White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt as the key figure behind this move.
According to Grynbaum, Leavitt responded to a question from a Times journalist—who had pronouns in their email signature—about a climate research initiative with a clear stance: “As a matter of policy, we do not respond to reporters with pronouns in their bios.”
Grynbaum’s report also mentioned another case involving Katie Miller, a senior advisor at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), who allegedly declined to engage with a media request that included pronouns in the sender’s signature.
“As a matter of policy, I don’t respond to people who use pronouns in their signatures as it shows they ignore scientific realities and therefore ignore facts,” Miller stated. She emphasized that this rule applies across the board to all journalists “who have pronouns in their signature.”
After these events, Grynbaum reached out to Leavitt again to confirm whether this represents an official stance of the White House press office. In a direct email reply, she stated: “Any reporter who chooses to put their preferred pronouns in their bio clearly does not care about biological reality or truth, and as a result, they cannot be trusted to write an honest story.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung also chimed in, taking a shot at The New York Times. “If The New York Times spent the same amount of time actually reporting the truth as they do being obsessed with pronouns, maybe they would be a half-decent publication,” he said, adding that, “The New York Times is obsessed with pronoun-related issues.”
Grynbaum further noted that reporters from other outlets have reported similar treatment from the administration if they include “preferred pronouns” in their sign-offs.
One such case involved Matt Berg of Crooked Media, who conducted what he called an “experiment” by adding pronouns to his email signature to gauge the White House’s response. He confirmed to the Times that the reply he received was consistent with those experienced by others.
“I find it perplexing that they care more about pronouns than they do about providing journalists with accurate information, but here we are,” Berg remarked in frustration.
This approach aligns with actions taken shortly after Donald Trump took office. In an early executive order, federal employees were instructed to omit gender pronouns from government communications. In January, Jason Bonander, Chief Material Officer at the CDC, told staff that any pronouns or unauthorized information in their email signatures had to be removed by 5 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).