‘Karoline is irreplaceable’: Marco Rubio looks forward to press secretary’s return from maternity leave after subbing in at podium

Secretary of State Marco Rubio “can’t wait” until Karoline Leavitt resumes her duties after subbing in for the White House Press Secretary at the podium.

Leavitt, who has held the role since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, went on maternity leave April 27. Her daughter, Viviana, was born May 1 to Leavitt, 28, and her husband, Nicholas Riccio, 60. The couple’s son, Nicholas, “Niko” will turn two in July.

Rubio subbed in for Leavitt at a raucous press briefing on May 5 where he answered questions from reporters for nearly an hour.

"Karoline is irreplaceable...I was just a pinch-hitter,” Rubio told Fox News anchor Sean Hannity on Air Force One Wednesday as he traveled with Trump to China for a summit with President Xi Jinping. “We can't wait until Karoline gets back."

Leavitt has not said when she will return from maternity leave. The Washington Post reported that she plans to take a longer period off from work than she did following the birth of her son in 2024 — which occurred three days before an attempted assassination against Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and immediately cut short her leave from her role as campaign press secretary.

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A White House official told the Post last week that the length of Leavitt’s maternity leave “is still to be determined”. The Independent has asked for any updates.

During the interview onboard Air Force One, Hannity joked that moonlighting as press secretary wasn’t the first White House job that Rubio had picked up in addition to being a senior Cabinet member.

“It seemed like you were having fun,” Hannity said.

Rubio replied: “Well, yeah, I don’t know if I’d have fun if I had to do it every week.”

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Last year, Rubio began overseeing the White House National Security Council following a reshuffle of Trump’s closest advisers, spurred in part by an embarrassing Signal chat scandal which exposed details of military operations.

Rubio’s predecessor at the security council, Mike Waltz, accidentally added a reporter to a text chain containing non-public information about imminent strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, prompting an embarrassing media cycle for the White House. Waltz was transferred to be Trump’s United Nations ambassador, and Rubio took over his job.

Leavitt is the first White House press secretary to give birth while in office, according to the Washington Post. Rubio, meanwhile, is the first Secretary of State since Henry Kissinger to serve in dual roles at State and as Trump’s national security adviser.

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The press secretary last made a brief public appearance at the White House alongside other members of the president’s team on April 25, two days before officially beginning her leave.

Earlier that night, she had attended the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at the Washington Hilton when a gunman attempted to storm the gala to assassinate Trump officials but was thwarted by law enforcement.

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