Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark - “President Trump’s Diet Coke Button Was Real!” With Gen-Z Political Pioneer Karoline Leavitt

Episode Date: March 17, 2023

On this episode, Alex talks to conservative Gen-Z political powerhouse, Karoline Leavitt, who had the honor of interning and working for Former President Donald Trump and Former Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany. Karoline reveals what it was like being in the White House during key moments in 2020 and whether certain rumors about the Trump Admin were true. Plus, Alex gets all the gritty behind-the-scenes tea on what it's actually like as a candidate on a campaign trail, what happens when peopl...

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Kaylee McEnany. The neatest part is she doesn't come from a family connected to conservative politics. She's a regular conservative like you and I who decided to pursue a job with the Trump administration on a whim. We explore a subject not yet to gust on the spillover, what it's actually like on the campaign trail, what happens when an old controversial Snapchat of you is leaked by your opponent and tea on people like Madison Cothorn and Congressman George Santos. She's the L. Woods of the conservative political movement, and now she's helping other members of Gen Z run for office too. Please welcome Caroline Levitt to the spillover. Let's start with the basics. You're gorgeous, you're conservative,

you're Genzi, you decided to run for Congress. You were on the road to becoming the youngest member of the House ever, which is a very big deal. And it's really incredible to hear firsthand from someone as young as you, not only how to get involved in politics from a campaign level, but also how to run for office. And you know, I wasn't going to have you on the spillover caroline without getting all of the juicy tea about other members in Congress. So I hope you're ready. I am ready. And I'm so excited. I don't know if you know this, Alex, but this is my favorite podcast. Of all the podcasts in the world, I swear to God. Yes. I listened to you more than any of my other podcasts. Don't tell Charlie, but it's true. I am so honored, honestly. That was very unexpected. I was going to tell you and we were chatting before we went on air, but I figured I would tell you.

No, I'm so glad you saved it for everyone else to hear, so everybody knows I'm legit. Okay, so we got to start from the very beginning. What did you want to be when you grew up? Not a Congresswoman. That's for sure. Like, I never thought I was going to run for office. office in a million years. Do you know what's funny? I actually thought and wanted to be a reporter. I can see that. Which is just crazy thinking back because my entire career ended up being fighting

against reporters in the White House and then on Capitol Hill. And then in my congressional campaign, I was always arguing with reporters because they're fake news, half of them at least. And my mom literally has home videos of me as a child, like reciting the news, pretending to be a reporter. So that was always my goal. And then I got to college and was introduced. to politics, and that's kind of just where my career took off from there. Yeah, I was wondering when you really got interested in politics, if it was high school, if it was college, how you were really involved at a early age. Yeah, I am not from a political family at all. Like most members of Congress come from a family which their father or their uncle has run for office before. Not me. I'm

the first of my family to go to college, actually. And when I got there, I realized I was like the only one on campus who thought the way that I did. And what was that? How did you think? Limited government, low taxes, freedom, strong border security, pro police. And this was 2016 elections at the time. Yes, first election I voted in. And I was the only kid on campus that voted for President Trump at that time. And I kind of just leaned into it and owned it. And I thought that it was, it was very curious to me. So that's kind of where my political affiliation, if you will, began. And then I just took every opportunity I could. I worked at the local. news station. I worked for NBC Sports Boston. I thought I wanted to be a sideline reporter at that

time. Are you into sports? Yes, I am. I played college softball at the school that I went to. And then I applied for the internship at the White House, which I never thought I was going to get, got it, moved to D.C. for the first time in my life, just worked my butt off when I got there and got introduced to the right people. That led to a full-time job, which then led to my promotion. working for Kaylee McAnney in the White House press office. Then I led, after the 2020 election, moved over to Capitol Hill. And then that led me to making the decision to run for Congress myself. So it was kind of just one step at a time. But it all began in college. While you're in the middle of college, the culture is really just being torn apart. Like it is hard fighting in 2016

between the left and the right. So what was that like as an openly conservative person on campus? It was definitely hard, but I loved it. Like I loved being the, I. I loved being the, I ideological minority, which I say we on the right amongst our generation, right, Gen Z, millennials, we are in the ideological minority. Our generation is overwhelmingly to the left, left of center for sure, or like wacky left and just absolutely crazy what we're seeing today. So I just owned it and I actually wrote an editorial in my college newspaper calling out my liberal professors. I wrote it as an anonymous letter to the editor. But they all knew it was you, didn't they? No, the liberal school newspaper put my

name on it. Yeah, journalistic ethics don't exist anymore. They put my name on the letter to the editor exposing my liberal professors. And I just simply wrote, like, hey, you should be mindful of the fact that you have students in your classrooms whose families believe in these policies, whose families don't believe in the left agenda that you are pushing. And it's insulting, frankly. And they exposed me for it. And that was my outing as the only conservative on campus. How did it feel in class after that letter got leaked as that girl that had written it? I mean, what was the dynamic like between you and your professors? Oh, it was awful.

You know what's funny? So I saw that professor, the one that I named in the letter. I recently saw him. I went back to my alma mater to film a documentary on Gen Z. And I saw him. He was in the midst of teaching a class. And I waved. And I was like, hey, professor.

Won't say his name. But, you know, I said, hey, he. basically looked at me like I was a villain. Didn't say hi. Not shocked. Not, no. And you know, he's teaching a room full of young students. Wouldn't you think like, hey, here's my former student. That was just the nominee for United States Congress in this state. Maybe she can share a thing or two with you about running. Nope. He just pretended I didn't exist. And I was like, he's still salty. But whatever. I was speaking my truth. So. Okay. So all of this culminates into you and up being an intern for the Trump administration. Crazy. I want to know what that process is like to even become an intern. What

sorts of things do they ask you? What credentials is a presidential administration looking for in a young intern for the White House? So when I was a college student, I remember listening to another student talk about her internship experience under Obama. And I thought that was interesting that she had gone to D.C. and had worked in the halls of the White House. And so I was like, that's a cool experience. You know, let me see if they're offering internships for this president, Donald Trump. So this was 2018 now. So I was a couple years into college. And they were, of course. So I literally went on Whitehouse.gov and just filled out the application. It was like 20 pages long. I think I had to write four different essays. Like what? What were the essay questions? Like, why do you want to work for this administration? What do you think is the best policy that the Trump administration has put forth? What's the greatest challenge you face? Like standard, standard question. Do you remember what policy you wrote that you liked the most? I actually do because I wrote another letter to the editor on it. And it was the ban on Islamic terrorist countries in the Middle East.

And people thought that people were calling me racist on campus. And I was like, it's not a racial thing. It's the fact that they're sending people to our country that are committing crimes. So it was border security, basically. And so you have to be ideologically in line with whoever the president is. is if you want to be an intern? You do. Okay. And they vet you for that. So they, you have to put like resources and my resource was my aunt and my director at the local news station that I worked at. And when I got to D.C. and got the internship, I remember I went out to lunch with several other

interns and they're like, so how did you get here? And I was like, what do you mean? I filled out the application didn't you. They're like, no, like my dad like golfs with Pence or my dad. is on the legal team for Jared Kushner and Ivanka. And I quickly realized DC is a swampy mess where people get ahead because of who they know. So I was blessed by God to be where I was in that position. And I think it made me want to work harder to get to the next level because I was there on my own merit and hard work. So I filled out the application and never looked back. I love that. Okay. So talk about your very first day as a Trump intern. What did you experience? What did you see? Oh, so this is so corny. But the day that I've done,

walked into the gates my parents. Did they drop you off? Yes. I was like dropping me off at like preschool. They're like, bye. And so, you know, I had to move. So they helped me move in all my stuff. And then they walked me to the gate of the White House and I went in. And that was always the coolest moment working at the White House. I worked there ultimately for two years. Started as an intern, ended as an assistant press secretary in the press office in the West Wing with Kaylee McAnney. And every single day, I always tried to to take for granted walking through that gate because as you walk through security, there's lines of tourists looking and taking photos and just wishing they could go in. And that was always really special to me. Like, wow, I'm privileged to be able to walk into this place and work here

every single day. And so it was such an honor. But I do remember walking through the gates and be like, oh my God, I'm allowed to go through. Hey, Secret Service. What's up? Like, are there anything cool? Like, are there any cool perks for White House interns like, you know, a really cool snack room or you get to swim in the pool or anything fun? You get to bowl. Oh. Yeah. You get to bowl in the bowling alley. So they did like an intern bowling night. But fun fact, the bowling alley is like the least cool thing you've ever seen. Like it's so underwhelming. Oh, man. Yeah, no, it's tiny. It's two lanes. And you can only fit like 20 people in it. So they had to like break us up in groups to do it. But we did get to bowl. We had a lot of great speakers like Kelly and Conway came and spoke to us. Dr. Ben Carson,

And, you know, administration officials would come and mentor us, if you will. But that was it. I mean, it's unpaid. It's gritty work. I mean, they make you do everything from, you know, print papers to get coffee to, you know, whatever they need. And but it was a great experience. And I always encourage people are like, how did you get to the White House? I said, I literally applied.

So you should apply too. Like, that's one of my greatest pieces of advice for young people that want to get involved in politics is, like, just take the risk. You might not think you're qualified for the people. position or you're not going to get there, but you'll never know if you don't try, so just do it. I mean, former President Trump is known to be a workaholic and a winner. You don't get to his position as a business person without relentless work ethic, right? So talk about your hardest day as a Trump intern. Oh, my hardest day as a Trump intern. There weren't too many hard days as an intern. I had a lot of hard days as a full-time staffer. So once I was in the press office,

working in the West Wing, working on Kaylee's team, part of my job was helping prepare her for her briefings and doing background research to get her infamous briefing book ready for the podium. And the news cycle is always changing, but I think certainly in the Trump era, it changed a lot because Trump was always talking to the American people through Twitter. Yes. He made the intern jobs very hard. Yeah. A good old tweet would change our entire day.

So like all of the research that we would put together for Kaylee or the six hours that we would spend in her office helping brief her before a press conference would go out the window with one one little tweety tweet. So we dealt with that a lot. Is the Diet Coke button in the White House a real thing? It's real. And you want to know something else? What? So my office was in. They call it lower press.

Okay. So it's right outside the press briefing room. So you're watching the press secretary. You see a blue door to the left. My desk was like the first stop behind that blue door. So Trump would come down into our lower press office before every single briefing. He briefed more than 70 days in a row during COVID. We always had to have a staffer there.

There were Sundays where he would just tweet like press conference at 10 a.m. See you then without telling any of the press staff. No way. Yeah. And a lot of times Kaylee was in Florida because she had a newborn baby. That's where her family's from. So we just have to like run to the West Wing and turn the lights on and tell the pressed to show up. And it was crazy, crazy. But he would come down and there was always a Diet Coke

waiting for him before he took the podium. So who's in charge of that? What's their job title? Literally body man. John McEntee was a former body man, good friend of mine. Another kid named Austin, who's a good friend of mine. And they are the Diet Coke man. They are the Sharpie man. Trump always has to have a big, black, thick Sharpie around him to sign things. And, hairspray. Okay. So there is some hair secrets then about President Trump. Okay. There is always hairspray around. And there's a particular volume of the hairspray in which he likes. Is that a trade secret? Volume five, baby. Volume five. Wow. Now, talk about, there has to be a moment where there was a huge win as an intern, too. A huge win was when I got the

full-time job. Like, not every intern was offered a position. And I, I remember I was actually on, I just graduated college, had the internship, was like, what am I going to do with my life? Like every recent college grad. And I was on a girls trip, a post-graduation girls trip, and I got a call for my former boss. And she was like, hey, we'd love to hire you full time. Do you want to come back to D.C.? And I was on the girls trip, and all my friends were like, don't do it.

And I was like, you guys are nuts. I'm going. Of course. Peace out. They're not political. None of my friends are political. They think I'm so weird. They're like, why do you care?

And I was like, well. So you had to leave. the trip in the middle of it? No, no. I didn't start for like a couple months. Okay. But I had to break the sad news to my friends. I was leaving him. I was going back to Washington. Then I did. When did it first occur to you that you wanted to run for Congress? When I was working in Congress, so 2020 election happens. And obviously Biden gets to the White House and we all lose our jobs. Like I don't think a lot of people realize that. Most White House employees and staff are political and pointies. So obviously, they come and go with each administration. So we were all out of jobs. That's

fine for like the upper echelon, like the senior staff, right, who are all going to go get gigs at Fox News or land well. But for us as, you know, junior staffers who are just starting our careers, that was really like, whoa, what are we going to do? So I landed a job on the Hill working as a communications director to Congresswoman Stefonic, at least Defonik, who at that time was the youngest woman ever elected. And, well, prior to AOC, AOC broke the record. And I was supposed to break that record. Unfortunately, didn't happen that way. But I think working for another young female lawmaker is where it dawned on me. Like, if she can do this, I can too. And I had a lot of conversations internally with myself about it before I even had the courage to approach anyone about it. Like, not even my own parents. I was afraid to tell them that I wanted to run for Congress because it sounded like such a crazy idea.

I was going to ask you what your parents' reaction was when you told me you wanted to run for office. Word for word. My dad literally said, you are going to ruin our effing lives. Wow. Swear to God. Very encouraging. Thanks for the support, Dad. Thank you so much.

In a way, looking back now that I've done it, like, he wasn't wrong. I mean, it was really hard on not just me, but my whole family. Because they will dig through your entire life, right, to find any and every skeleton, not just for you, but anyone of associated with you related. They did their digging. Have you seen the hoe bag ad? The what? The hoe bag.

The hoe bag? No, tell me. So, this is another piece of advice to anyone wanting to run for office. Cleanse your social media. And when you think it's cleansed. Yeah. Do it again. And when you think it's cleansed, do it again.

Have private investigators look into it for you. So I thought I had done that. Did you call somebody a hoe bag? Worse. Worse? I took, or my college roommate, took a video of me being silly and goofy in her bunk bed, in her dorm, saying, listen up, Hoagbags. And hysterically laughing. That is the video. Listen up, O'Bags, laughing, laughing, laughing. I'm like voting for you. She has my vote now. Well, that's what happened. The conservatives on the.

on the right, put $4 million behind the whole bag ad to try to destroy me, to deter me from winning the nomination. So it's like three weeks before the primary. I am drowning. I am doing debates. I have to raise millions of dollars. My phone is blowing up with reporters. And someone on my team comes up to me was like, I need to show you something.

And his face did not look great. And I was like, what is it? Is my photo on the cover of the New York Times? like what's happening and he's like it's pretty bad and I was like okay so I watched the ad like this and it was like Caroline Levitt too immature too irresponsible to ever be in Congress and then it pans to the video of me 18 years old in college saying listen up ho bags that my friend took on Snapchat six years ago seven years ago what a ride yeah see this is whatever people tell me politics is boring. I'm like, you don't know anything. No, it's a game. Like, it is a vicious

game. So then in politics, what's the tactic to combat something like that? Well, at first I was Did you just own it? Yeah. I mean, it was me. Like, it was me. What was I going to do? But were you like, I'm so sorry. This was at my finest hour. Oh my gosh. No. Okay, here's the answer to your question. No, never apologize. Like double down. Go on offense. I said, this is ridiculous. These people are slandering me because they're afraid that if I'm the nominee and if I'm the next congresswoman from New Hampshire, I'm going to expose all of the fraud in Washington, D.C. on both the left and the right. And I'll call them hoe bags while I do it.

Yeah, all these ho bags are going to go down if I get to Congress. So I was just like, all right, we got to just own it. And we owned it. And we played the hit. And then my, like, base was so inflamed when that came out. They were so angry. Like my moms and my dads and my, you know, vet's. my old people that were supporting me and so invested in my campaign.

They're like, this is vicious. Why would they do this to a young woman who's trying to help us? And I truly believe it led to my victory. And that's what helped lead me to winning by such a big margin in the primary because people, like, were really driven to the polls by that because they saw just the viciousness of it and they didn't like it. How long did you campaign for? Almost two years. Two years, dude. You could not pay me to go through that.

That is hard. So hard. Running for office is so hard. Like, don't do it unless you want to win. Like, don't just run to run. I see people sometimes, I'm like, this person's just running to run. Like, don't put yourself through that. If you're going to run, commit to it and run to win because it's so much work.

And it's living under constant anxiety. And I didn't realize that until the campaign was over. And I didn't have to worry about my name being in the press or ads being dropped on television. Like, it's constantly wondering what's going to be. going to come next? What is my opponent going to say about me next? What's the press going to report on? And it's just constant fear and anxiety. It's a very exhausting thing to do and way to live. And I do give props to anyone on the left or the right who runs for office and is a public servant because it's really, really hard. If you were to pick up a regular pound of ground beef at the grocery store,

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Oh, my God. I learned so much, and I loved the voters. That was my favorite part of the whole experience, was going to, like, diners and American legions and, like, country bumpkin barbecue. on a Saturday night when all my friends are going out and I'm at a barbecue like three hours away from my house in the mountains of New Hampshire

talking to people about politics. So what you're saying is when President Biden goes and eats ice cream, it's not because he just loves ice cream. That man is campaigning, so to speak, even though he's already elected, even though he's in office, it's always campaigning. Everything candidates and politicians, if you will, do, is for a reason.

Like, everything. And you always have to be on. So like I went and ate breakfast one morning with my girlfriends. We ran a 5K just for fun and we went to a diner after. And this was like my one morning off of the whole campaign. And people kept coming up to me like voters to talk about the campaign. And my friends were like, this is crazy. Like we just want to sit here and eat our Nutella pancakes after we ran a 5K.

Like why is this happening? But that's, you know, the sacrifice that you make. You always are on and talking to people. But I loved that. That was the most rewarding part for me. I loved it more than raising the money or doing the national media hits or speaking at national conferences. That stuff's all cool. But I really enjoyed engaging with the voters.

And I made a lot of really special relationships. And I think we're seeing a lot more people step up and run for office that really engage with that. And I think that's one of the things President Trump did for us is being like a man of the people. All of our politicians should be men or women of the people. Talk about the moment that you found out that you won your primary. Oh, that was one of the best nights. of my life, for sure. Just because I was the underdog in the race. Like, we had so much money spent against us. We were outspent, but I was never outworked. That was our motto. And we just had a grassroots

campaign of people that had never really paid attention to politics before, but they joined our campaign because, you know, I was young and vibrant and had energy, and I was all over the state. And we were just firing from all cylinders. And a lot of people were like, wow, I want to be a part of this movement is what we cultivated. And every polluted. And every poll. had me losing, but I knew I was going to win. Like, I just felt it. On election day, I had people coming up to me and saying what they're doing to you is so horrible, I'm voting for you, or people winking, like trying not to show that they were voting for me, and they're like, I got you. And I was like, thank you. So that day, I was like, I'm going to win. And we did

by 10 points. And we beat, like, the handpick of the establishment in D.C. He had all of the money in the world for him and against me. Was it just as hard going up against the establishment right as it was the left? 100%. It was harder. Why? Because it's your own. And they're manipulating voters on the right into believing I'm not truly conservative is what they would say, even though I was running to the right of every single one of my opponents on every single issue. And so they would try to manipulate my base of people who I earned that support.

I spoke to them. I went to their homes, their businesses. So that was really hard because I had supporters calling in quite. Well, they're saying this about you. Is it true? So it was more difficult to combat the attacks from the right than the left because, I mean, our base never believes what the left says because half of its lies anyway. So it was really hard. But the primary win, I knew it was going to win. I never wrote a concession speech. I only wrote a victory speech because I was manifesting it. And sure enough, we did our victory speech. And I was in a room full of supporters. My family was there. My parents, my brothers. My brothers. My brother cried. My brother never cries. I don't think I've ever seen him cry, and he was crying. It was just really sweet. It was a great night.

I will forever, ever remember it. What happens on Election Day as a candidate? They say that Election Day is like the worst day of the whole campaign because there's nothing else you can do. Like, you're, the game's over. Yeah, you're just living in anxiety, and it feels so long. So you just go to the polls and you hold signs and you greet voters at the polls, and then you, you know, go back and for me, I got glammed up and ready for the evening. But it's a long,

boring day, to say the least. Did anybody speak into your life some really good words of wisdom or advice prior to election night that really stuck with you? Yeah. One of the things that sticks with me the most is advice that Kaylee McAnney shared with me, my former boss. And she was so helpful and really supportive when I told her I wanted to run. And one of the pieces of advice she said is you're going to have to work 10 times harder than every man in your race. And at the time, I was like, what does she mean by that? Like, that's, you know, okay, yeah, I'm going to work harder than everyone, but what does she mean by that? She was so right to say that. And, you know, I believe we as women can do anything a man can do and we can do some things better. Some things are left to men in this

world, right? However, when it comes to running for office, there are things we have to think about that men simply do not, such as attire. Like, that was. such a challenge for me figuring out what to wear. Yeah, what are the do's and don'ts of running for office wardrobe for a young woman? I want to write a book on this because there isn't one. Like, there is no guidelines on what the heck to wear. Because you want to look stylish. You want to look your age, but you also want to look mature. Right. I don't want to be dressed like I'm 60 years older than I am, but I also want to appear professional because of my age. A lot of people thought, you know, maybe I wasn't up for the job. So it's really hard to pick up.

out what to wear, especially when you're campaigning, you're going from like a church to a barbecue to a vineyard to a country club all in one day. Yeah. So you have to find an outfit that fits. And while I was literally going from sneakers to heels in the car and going from like jeans and a flannel to a dress changing in the backseat of my volunteer's car, my male opponents were rocking the same flannel and jeans to every single dang event. Didn't matter where we were.

And they would say that, I mean, like, you changed? I was like, yes, I changed. Because we were just at a farm and now we're at a vineyard. Right. Yeah. Hello. Men don't care. They don't need to care.

Okay, so a little cup of tea. Madison Cawthorne. Yes. What about him? I feel like there is so much controversy surrounding him. I'm just basically going to go through like hot topic names in the Young Conservative movement with you. Okay. So have you ever in my water. I know. Have a drink. Have you ever met Madison Cothorn? What was your impression of him? What have you heard about the demise of his very short-lived

marriage? And I've met Madison. He's been nothing but nice to me. And, you know, I'm just looking at this as an outsider and asking the questions. I know Keith Servitz just want me to ask. So I don't know. What's your opinion? What have you experienced? What have you heard? Yes. I have met Madison many times. he came to New Hampshire to campaign with me. Oh, that was nice. He was actually, yeah, he was actually the first sitting member of Congress, maybe the second. But he was one of the first members of Congress that endorsed me. And he was the first to come campaign with me.

So, yeah. Were you surprised or not surprised when he got divorced so shortly after getting married? I remember reading the press release. I, like, remember where I was, which is weird. Like, they say you remember where you were when Michael Jackson died. I remember where I was when Madison Cawthorne got divorced. So weird. That is so funny and awful.

Listen, it's just a crazy ride in politics. Okay, so what, yeah, what was your impression of that? I wouldn't say I was surprised by it. I mean, you know, I think he has a flirtatious personality. I don't think he would get mad at me for saying that. It's the truth. I think he would agree. Yeah, I think he would agree.

And I think it's probably really hard to be married to someone who's younger and handsome, right? We'll give him that. That's especially flirtatious and is on the news every single night. I can imagine that's probably a difficult relationship to have. Has George Santos ever lied to you? And what has he lied about? He has never lied to me. Do you know what's funny, though?

So we were supposed to like connect. Like, you know, that's what you do. You network with people. You connect with them because we have a mutual friend in the place. political world. And we were supposed to have like a phone call to talk about our campaigns and maybe donate to another. Mind you. Okay, this was before the entire scandal. Scandal. Fraud came out. And we never had that phone call. And when all this stuff was going on, I was like, I'm so glad I never had that phone call. Like, what if it led to a friendship? And then I'm like

involved in this fraudulent scheme. Yeah. My favorite story to come out about George Santos is Christian Walker said that at some event he told him that his butt looked good in his jeans. And then Christian was talking to other people in the conservative movement. And they were like, he told me my butt looked good in my jeans. And basically all of them were like, he was lying. He never told me my butt looked good. See? I guess is sad.

I mean, I would have taken the compliment. Sure. Why not? All right. So presidential election 2020, what was it like for you emotionally? So in 2020, I was working. at the White House. It was Trump v. Biden. And I was under the impression we were going to win. I felt a little nervous about it, but I thought we were going to pull it off. I'm in the midst of this job, the job of a

lifetime. I'm hoping that we get another four years. I wanted to stay in the White House and keep working my way up the ladder. Maybe be White House press secretary someday. Who knows? You know, that was the goal. And obviously, things did not work out the way that we had thought. And it was you know, all the legal battles with the election stuff that was going on back and forth. So for like four weeks, we didn't really know our fate. And all of us staff were just walking around like, what do we do? There was one day where it was a Friday night, we all just like colluded in an office and like drank wine and ate cookies because we're like, we don't know if we're going to have a job at two weeks. We might as well enjoy this time in each other's company. So that was really hard. And then once we realized like Biden was coming in no matter what we did, it was kind of like, okay, we all have to look for employment now. So what do you blame really for the loss in 2020 when it came to the president? I mean, do you think that it was COVID? Do you think that it was, I don't know.

I don't know. What else? I think there was a lot of factors that led to Biden and getting into the White House in 2020. I think there was certainly irregularities in fraud. Like President Trump was absolutely right to talk about that. We've seen it on video for crap sake. But was it a turnoff for voters? Was it too conspiratorial for an average vote?

I think at that time it was, but now there's been so many truths that have been revealed about the ballot harvesting and the ballot stuffing and the machines that have been malfunctioning in states across this country. And over time, right, every conspiracy theory, they say the difference between a conspiracy theory and truth is give it six months and it becomes true. And I think that is the case with the 2020 election. I also do think COVID had a big part of it and the big tech collusion to censor stories that were vital to the electorate at the time, such as the Hunter Biden story. I remember the day that was censored. I was sitting in the White House press office and Kaylee came to us, her team, and said, hey, there's a huge bombshell about Hunter Biden.

The New York Post is about to run it. This is crazy. It's going to change the direction of everything right now. And within hours, the New York Post was taken off Twitter. The left were all singing the same song in unison pushing back saying the story was Russian misinformation when come to find out now Congress is holding hearings on it. It was all true. It is his laptop and it arguably compromises the now president of the United States. But voters were not allowed to know that before the election because the left all colluded together just to suppress that story. And I think that played a huge role. So when the Hunter Biden story was initially taken down in those first couple hours on Twitter and on Facebook and basically everywhere, internally at the White

House, what was everybody saying and thinking? First, we didn't know what was happening because it's like, why is this not on Twitter? Like, why aren't people talking about this story? And then we, of course, reached out to the reporters at the New York Post, whom we worked closely with because they're on the right and they were helpful to us. And they were saying, you know, we're being censored. We're being banned. And we pushed back aggressively, of course, but legally there's not much we could do. That's why Congress, I believe, needs to take action now on Section 230 and big tech to ensure that this can never happen again. It's a complete dereliction of duty for these companies to just take off information because it doesn't suit their political agenda. It's craziness.

And I think at the time, we didn't even realize like the big picture moment of what was happening. We just knew it was wrong and it was confusing. And how do we get this message out there? So let's go to your race in 2022. Yes. At what point did you realize that the results were not going to pan out in your favor? Pretty early in the night. I was getting my hair and makeup done. All of my team was in the war room, as every campaign calls it. So we're watching the results come in from every race around the country. And I was getting my hair and makeup done under the impression, right, that I was going to win. Every poll had us winning. I definitely felt the energy and the enthusiasm on the ground. And I was going to be. the youngest congressperson ever. So we already had every major network reaching out to our campaign saying, hey, if Caroline wins, we want her on in the morning. So I was getting glammed up.

Like, I had hair and makeup ready to rock and roll. And then I go down in the war room and the energy was so different than it was on primary night. I mean, my team was like quiet. They weren't looking me in the eye. I mean, that's when you know someone's like afraid to tell you something, right? They won't look at you. They're avoiding you. And I was like, what's going on? We started looking at little towns that the right used to rely on and they were coming in for the left for my opponent. And we were concerned about that because the results just weren't going the way that we were hoping that they would. And so I knew pretty early on that it wasn't going to happen. And I was just shocked like, okay, well, this is not what I expected.

I called my opponent, conceded the race, which was hard to do. Talk about sucking up your pride. I mean, you're just on a debate stage fighting with this person two weeks before calling them, you know, every name in the book. And then you have to call them and say, hey, congrats, good luck. Thanks for your time. So that was really hard. And then I had to go and confront my room full of supporters. What did you say? I don't even remember. It was like a blackout rush of adrenaline. Totally blackout rush of adrenaline. And I didn't write anything. My team said, do you want us to prepare? Are you notes? I said, no, I'm just going to speak from the heart. It was very quick. I just thanked everyone. I was so grateful. I am still so grateful for the support I received. I raised more money than any congressional candidate in New Hampshire history. We had a team and an army of volunteers, moms and dads and young people, old people who knocked doors for me, made phone calls for me, and they were just so giving with their time and their treasure. So I was just grateful in that moment and I just expressed that and did not cry and just did what I could, did my best.

Did you cry once you were finally home alone that night and were able to just lay in bed? Not that night, surprisingly. I was just like in a sheer state of shock. Like I kept laughing and everyone's like, what are you laughing? I was like, I just can't believe this is happening. Like I just gave up my life, my job, a relationship. I was in a relationship at the beginning of the campaign. It did not work out pretty much because of the campaign. And I was like, call you after? No. Jerk.

I know. Never texted me or called after the loss. But do you know what's funny? No, do you know what's funny? He texted me and congratulated me after the primary win but didn't text me to say sorry after the general election win. And I was like, you want me at my best but not at my worst. There you go.

Red flag. So anyway. Yeah. What did this experience teach you about dreams? Go get them. And no one else is going to do it for you. Like the best way to achieve your goal, your dream, whatever it may be in politics, media, your career, your life, no one else can do it for you. Like I said I wanted to run for Congress and I had a great team of people to help me along the way.

But ultimately, it's you have to wake up and do it. You have to call that donor. You have to go to that event and speak. And that's true for any goal, any dream. So no matter how big. it may feel how crazy you may feel for wanting to accomplish it, just keep moving because there's a ton of other people who want that dream too, but they lack the courage to do it. So if you have the courage and believe in yourself, you can make it happen. What advice do you have for people who are also young that want to run for office, whether that is school board, Congress, maybe even president or just student government at their school? Do they need to be very plugged in into their community in politics? Can you just run out of nowhere? What's realistic?

Well, I kind of ran out of nowhere. So a lot of people when I launched my campaign said this is completely unrealistic. Like this young woman has never run for anything before. Nobody knows her. How is she going to raise the money? But I did it anyway. So set your goal based on what you know, what you think you can accomplish, do your research before, have conversations with people that can be helpful to you and then just go for it. But my advice is don't do it unless you're wholeheartedly in because it's a lot of work and there's a lot of days that are not glamorous. There's more days that really suck on the campaign trail than days that are rewarding and fun. It's a grind and you have to be fully committed in order to do it. So if you are, absolutely go for it. And if you need free advice, I got you. What is the right getting wrong about young voters, especially Gen Z? Like what is our strategy need to be for conservatives when it comes to Generation Z? We need to message to them. Like you do so effectively. You speak their language.

And I think there's still this preconceived notion about the right that young people just don't see people on the right that they can look up to or relate to. So we need to meet these voters where they are. That's in this digital age on social media. So when conservatives make fun of the left for being on TikTok and leftist candidates making these stupid dancing TikToks and stuff, do you actually think that they have a point that the right needs to be doing more of that or no? Absolutely. Yes, because that's where these voters are. And you can't meet, you can't have a conversation with them or you can't even further convince them of your beliefs and your values if you are not meeting them where they are. The left consistently invests more money than the conservative movement in digital advertising, marketing, and social media.

And I don't know why. Because Generation Z and millennials are the most influential voting bloc in America today. they are only growing in numbers. I mean, people are turning 18 every day. We can't stop that. Babies are being born and they're turning 18 and they're signing up to vote. Do you think that the future voting, Jack Bosobic came on the spillover last season? And Jack Bosobic said this.

Do you think that the future of voting is going to be digital? Like, we started with mail and ballots, but eventually are we going to all be voting from our phones? And is that something that conservatives should be open to embracing? Why or why not? It's going to happen regardless of how we feel about it. so we should get on board and make sure that we are playing by those rules of the game. We're already seeing that, right, in states that have three months of voting. We don't agree with that.

Like, I don't. I wish we had one election day where every American had to show up in person and vote one person, one ballot. But is that common sense? But is that realistic anymore? It's not. It's not realistic anymore. And that's where I believe conservatives went wrong in the 2022 election cycle because we were not playing by the same rules of the game. For instance, in New Hampshire, we have a. same-day registration law. So, like, anyone can just go to a poll in New Hampshire and sign up to

vote. You don't have to be a resident of the state. I don't agree with that law, but it's our law. And the left has capitalized on it. They've used it to their advantage. They drive people out to the polls on election day. Conservatives have failed to do it. And I think it's a big part of our losses. Are you going to run again? Not next cycle. I don't think. They say never, say never. And, you know, that could change. It's very environment-driven for me. But like I said, if I'm not 100% in it, like mind, body, soul, I'm not going to do it. And right now, I am not there. I'm still exhausted from the last run. Somebody who is young wanting to run for office. There are a lot of really cool conservative organizations that help young people run. Who are some of those people and how do you get involved with them if you're interested? Well, first of all, you can reach out to me. I'm always fielding messages from people asking, how do I run? How do I do what you did? And that's, I'm more than happy to share my advice. So please reach out to me, DM me, and we can talk. Turning Point Action is a great organization that endorses good candidates and helps them with resources, which are very hard to come by when you're running for office. And I also recommend that voters look to turning point action to look at their endorsement list to see which members. members of Congress they should give their resources to as well because they do a great job of vetting you and making sure you are a true conservative. Yeah, you want to know something funny. So every time

there's an election, so turning point action is the 501C4 of Turning Point USA. So Turning Point USA, we can't endorse candidates or get involved in elections and things like that. But our sister org turning point action, what Caroline's talking about does. And so anytime there's election, I walk over to that building and I'm like, give me the list. And they'll give me a list exactly what you're talking about. I may make it digital, but I get a paper one and I bring it to the polls. That's how I do it. So I know exactly who I'm voting for because they do such a great job of telling you exactly who to vote for. And they'll do that for every state, any election. So it's very, very helpful. So turning point action is great. And then anyone else? Run Gen Z, another great

organization. I love Run Gen Z. Yes. They're great. I just spoke at their conference in Dallas. That was so rewarding. That was the first moment since the election for me. me that I was like, what I did mattered, you know, because I had all these young students I spoke at one of the morning meetings and they were asking me the most phenomenal questions. What were some of the questions they asked that you were impressed by? Like, how do you raise money? What do you say to a donor? What's your pitch look like? How do you get your campaign off the ground? Asking me about campaign finance and compliance, which is like all boring stuff probably to your

audience. But for me as a candidate who just went through that, I was more than happy to share what I had learned the hard way because there really weren't many people that I could have looked to that have done this before, especially as a 25-year-old young woman. And it is different when you're in your 20s running for office. Your whole life changes. You have to be so careful about everything you do and everything you wear. And in the digital age, you know, we're the first generation to grow up with cell phones in our hands. And that's a huge challenge in itself that a lot of people that sit in Congress today don't understand. Looking forward to 2024 and beyond, do you feel like there is hope for America? I do. I hope that there's hope for America. I think some days it's easier to believe that there is than

others. But I will say, the media, the mainstream media, the left media makes us feel like this world is completely falling apart. And in a lot of ways it is. But one of the things I found campaign, and talking to good-hearted people every day is there's a lot of good-hearted people out there who are just doing God's work, right? They're raising their families. They are sending their kids to school. They are running small businesses. And I think there's a lot more good people in this country than there are bad.

And on the left and the right. And we should have some hope in that. Caroline Levitt, thank you so much for sharing your stories, your wisdom and expertise on something that I have not covered on the podcast yet. Where can people follow you and what is next for you? Oh, please do follow me. You can follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Caroline Levitt, and it's Caroline with a K.

That became my slogan throughout the campaign. I was always saying that because people are like, Caroline with a C, I'm like, no, it's with a K. So Caroline with a K, follow me everywhere. And I'm going to stay in the fight. I may or may not run again, probably not ever again because it's so much work. but I will be continuing to use my voice to hopefully inspire other people to run and to keep speaking truth because we need a lot more of it in this country. Thank you, Caroline, for coming on the spillover.

Thank you, my friend. Is Caroline a doll baby or what? She was so entertaining and absolutely brought it. I love that Trump's Diet Coke button was real, absolutely hysterical. And I don't think running for office is for me personally after that conversation, but I do have a lot of respect for people like Caroline. who are willing to put it all out there and go for it just to save our country. Next week, in honor of the official start of spring, I am digging into another topic that's unexplored ground for the spillover. Homesteading.

We'll be learning how to homestead anywhere you live, yes, even in an apartment complex in the city, the city mouse versus country mouse. The spillover is back next Thursday at 9 p.m. Pacific, midnight eastern on Apple Podcast, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcast. subscribe to Poplitics on YouTube to watch these interviews. I'm Alex Clark and this is The Spillover. Love you, mean it. Bye.