Karoline Leavitt’s Slip-Up While Discussing Massive Relationship Age Gap Says It All – The List
Karoline Leavitt and her husband, Nicholas Riccio, have quite the age gap. The White House press secretary is nearly 32 years younger than her husband, whom she married in January 2025 in a private ceremony. During a March 2025 appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” Leavitt revealed that her path had first crossed with Riccio’s at an event hosted at a mutual friend’s restaurant during her 2022 congressional campaign. The youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history explained that their romantic relationship had a strong base because they started out as friends.
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In December 2023, Leavitt took to Instagram to announce that Riccio had popped the question during a walk on the beach on Christmas Day. In July of the following year, the happy couple welcomed their son, Nicholas Robert Riccio, or Niko. Despite all the positives in their lives, it was difficult for people to ignore the most glaring red flag in Leavitt and Riccio’s marriage: Their three-decade age gap.
When the topic came up during the former political aide’s chat with Kelly, she took the opportunity to gush about her hubby: “He is my greatest supporter, he’s my best friend and he’s my rock.” However, an unfortunate hiccup about their age gap followed, with Leavitt saying, “He’s the father of my child and he’s the best dad I could ever ask for.” Of course, she probably meant that he was the best father their son could ask for. Even weirder, some of the compliments she gave Riccio were more fitting for a father figure.
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Karoline Leavitt and Nicholas Riccio keep their relationship private
Elsewhere in Karoline Leavitt’s appearance on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” she discussed Nicholas Riccio as if he were her father by pointing out, “He’s built a very successful business himself so now he’s fully supportive of me building my success in my career.” Outside of that, we’ve not heard the White House press secretary speak of her hubby much since they evidently like to keep things extremely private. While she shares the occasional snap of their baby boy, Riccio rarely ever makes an appearance on Leavitt’s Instagram.
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In fact, the couple are so private that he wasn’t even part of the Instagram post announcing their son’s arrival. According to the Daily Mail, the White House press secretary once confirmed that Riccio stayed off social media entirely since he was a bit of an introvert, adding, “I respect his privacy on here — but he’s my number one fan, the best dad, and just the best man I’ve ever met.”
There’s a chance that she doesn’t share any snaps of her husband to avoid comments about the fact that they’re a political couple with a massive age gap. But the hate still finds a way. In 2025, critics flooded her 2023 engagement post with negative comments, with many users questioning if Riccio was her father or even her grandfather. One commentator on X, formerly known as Twitter, similarly quipped, “I’m sorry but all I can think about when I see Karoline Leavitt is how her husband is 60 years old.”
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