It’s Deplorable… I’m Using That Word on Purpose
In the high-stakes arena of American politics, where words can ignite wildfires of outrage and rally cries, few terms carry the explosive weight of “deplorable.” Coined infamously by Hillary Clinton in 2016 as a descriptor for a “basket” of Trump supporters—racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, or otherwise—she later called it a mistake, but the damage was done. It became a badge of honor for the MAGA faithful, a rallying cry against coastal elitism. Fast-forward to October 21, 2025, and former Biden White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has dusted off that verbal grenade, lobbing it directly at her successor, Karoline Leavitt. “It’s deplorable… I’m using that word on purpose,” Jean-Pierre declared on The View, her voice steady but laced with intent. The room froze. Reporters gasped later in recaps. Even some Democrats winced, sensing the echo of past electoral pitfalls. Was this a calculated callback, a Hillary 2.0 designed to expose division, or a reckless swing that could backfire spectacularly?
The spark? Leavitt, the 28-year-old firebrand now helming the briefing room under President Donald Trump’s second term, had unleashed a scorched-earth broadside on Fox News just days earlier. “The Democrat Party’s main constituency is made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals,” she proclaimed, her words slicing through the cable news ether like a machete. It was vintage Leavitt: unfiltered, unapologetic, and engineered for maximum viral fury. As Trump’s press secretary, she’s mastered the art of the takedown, blending Gen Z snark with Reagan-era bravado. Her comment wasn’t isolated; it capped a week of border rhetoric, tying Democratic immigration policies to everything from campus protests to urban crime spikes. For Leavitt’s base, it was truth-telling gold. For critics, it was fearmongering red meat.
Jean-Pierre, 51 and fresh off promoting her memoir Moving Forward: A Story of Hope, Hard Work, and Purpose, couldn’t let it slide. Seated amid The View‘s co-hosts—Sunny Hostin, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, and the rest—she watched the clip play, her expression a mask of controlled incredulity. “I have so many thoughts there,” she began, pausing for effect. “Hearing that, it’s deplorable… I’m using that word on purpose.” The studio audience murmured; the panel leaned in. Jean-Pierre elaborated, tying Leavitt’s barb to a broader indictment of Trump’s administration: online trolling, leaked juvenile texts (like Leavitt’s infamous “your mom” retort to a reporter), and a press corps treated as adversaries rather than partners. “The White House press secretary is not about doing online trolling,” she admonished. “It’s inappropriate. It’s not helpful in this partisan environment.” Hostin nodded vigorously, quipping that Leavitt needed to “grow up.” The segment went viral, racking up millions of views by midday, with hashtags like #DeplorablePressSec and #KJPClapsBack trending on X.
But if Jean-Pierre thought she’d landed a knockout, Leavitt was ready with a counterpunch that turned the fight into a spectacle. Appearing on Jesse Watters’ Fox show that evening, the young press secretary didn’t flinch. “I know Karine unfortunately worked for the most incompetent president in history,” she fired back, her tone dripping with mock sympathy. “So I guess she has a reason to be bitter. But being bitter will not sell your books.” The studio erupted in applause. Leavitt didn’t stop there, unleashing a 90-second blitz that painted Jean-Pierre as the architect of “the greatest cover-up and scandal in American history.” She accused her predecessor of daily lies from the podium—insisting Joe Biden was “mentally and physically up for the job” despite mounting evidence to the contrary—and called out fresh whoppers from the book tour, like claims Biden outdid Trump in press engagements. “Any person across the aisle can tell you that is a bald-faced lie,” Leavitt sneered. “I’m very proud to work for the greatest president in history.” Watters high-fived her on air; X lit up with MAGA memes, from Photoshopped “basket of deplorables” edits featuring Jean-Pierre to GIFs of Leavitt as a WWE wrestler body-slamming her foe.
The exchange wasn’t just personal; it encapsulated the raw, polarized chasm of post-2024 America. Jean-Pierre, a trailblazer as the first Black and openly gay press secretary, embodies the Obama-Biden era’s emphasis on inclusivity and decorum. Her tenure was marked by deft navigation of crises—from COVID briefings to the Afghanistan withdrawal—though critics lambasted her for evasive answers and what they called “gaslighting” on Biden’s fitness. Leavitt, by contrast, is the Trumpian disruptor incarnate: a former congressional aide turned rapid-response warrior, she’s all kinetic energy and zero filter. At 28, she’s the youngest ever in the role, a symbol of Trump’s youth injection into GOP ranks. Her leaked texts—snarky jabs at reporters, including that crass “your mom” zinger about a Putin summit location—drew eye-rolls from old-guard journalists but cheers from an audience weary of scripted politeness.
Social media amplified the chaos. On X, conservative voices crowed triumph. “KJP pulling a Hillary? Epic self-own,” tweeted @EricLDaugh, whose clip of Leavitt’s rebuttal garnered over 28,000 likes. Progressives fired back, with one viral thread arguing Jean-Pierre’s word choice was “intentional reclamation,” flipping the script on elitist disdain. Fox News ran wall-to-wall coverage, framing it as Democratic desperation; MSNBC dissected it as Republican incivility run amok. Late-night hosts pounced: Jimmy Kimmel quipped, “Deplorable? That’s just French for ‘relatable’ in Trump world.” Stephen Colbert deadpanned, “Karine’s book sales just spiked—nothing sells like a good old-fashioned feud.”
Yet beneath the fireworks lies a deeper question: Does this verbal jousting advance discourse, or entrench it? Jean-Pierre’s memoir tour, ostensibly about hope and resilience, has devolved into score-settling, mirroring the bitterness she decries. Leavitt’s pugilism energizes the base but alienates moderates, risking the very “partisan environment” Jean-Pierre laments. In a nation grappling with immigration flashpoints—border crossings at record highs, pro-Palestine protests clashing with anti-terror hawks—rhetoric like Leavitt’s doesn’t just provoke; it polarizes policy. Hamas sympathizers on campuses? A fringe, but real. Migrant crime stats? Overblown by data, yet visceral in headlines. “Deplorable” doesn’t bridge that; it builds walls.
As the dust settles, one can’t shake the irony. Clinton’s gaffe handed Trump a 2016 slogan; Jean-Pierre’s might gift Leavitt her own. On The View, Goldberg warned of escalation, urging both sides toward empathy. But in Trump’s Washington, empathy is the real endangered species. For now, the press secretaries’ spat is catnip for cable news, a microcosm of why trust in institutions craters. Reporters gasp not from shock, but fatigue. Democrats wince because they know the playbook: alienate at your peril. And as Leavitt sells Trump’s vision with unyielding zeal, Jean-Pierre peddles her story of perseverance, America watches, divided as ever. In politics, “deplorable” isn’t just a word—it’s a mirror, reflecting the fractures we refuse to mend. Will this feud fade into book-tour footnotes, or fuel the next cycle of fury? Only time—and the midterms—will tell. For now, the room may have frozen, but the firestorm rages on.