Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire faces a growing field of Republican opponents, including Karoline Leavitt, who says she believes Donald Trump’s false claims that the presidential election was stolen from him.
The field of Republicans hoping to unseat Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire includes a 25-year-old woman who worked in the Trump administration.
Karoline Leavitt, a former assistant White House press secretary, just graduated from college a few years ago, but she says is determined to be the next Congresswoman from New Hampshire.
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"We desperately need strong, young, dynamic people with energy who are going to go down there and who are going to really shake up the system," she said.
She says she was taught to work hard at a young age and that her working class parents never looked to the government for help.
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Leavitt went to Saint Anselm college on a softball scholarship, but quickly found out her passion was politics. It was 2016, and Donald Trump was running for president.
"I was a big supporter of his from the very beginning in that primary, one of the few conservative students and Trump supporters on campus," Leavitt said.
What was it about Donald Trump that she connected with?
"His strong and unapologetic love for our country and his ability to resonate with the American people," she said.
In 2019, Leavitt filled out an application on whitehouse.gov, landing a job a few weeks later.
"It was the second time I'd ever been to Washington, D.C., in my life," she said.
Within months, Leavitt was appointed assistant press secretary.
"My desk was in the West Wing of the White House, and it was the honor of my life to serve," she said.
After leaving the White House, Leavitt went to work for Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York.
After Trump was voted out of office, Leavitt continued to support his false claims that President Joe Biden stole the 2020 election.
"I stayed with President Trump through the election and unfortunately, I believe it was stolen away from us. I really do. I think they were widespread irregularities that occurred," she said.
Federal and state officials have confirmed there were no widespread irregularities. Even William Barr, his own attorney general and then a staunch ally, publicly said "we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election." Barr described Trump's anger about this to NBC News' Lester Holt in an interview that aired this month.
Dozens of lawsuits seeking to overturn results of states won by Biden were dismissed because of a lack of evidence, including by judges appointed by Trump himself.
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How important does she think a potential Trump endorsement in this race?
"President Trump likes winners, and so whoever he believes is going to win this race, I'm sure he will come back and support them," she said.
Leavitt has been endorsed by Republicans in Congress, including Stefanik, Rep. Madison Cawthorn and Sen. Ted Cruz.
