White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, has been refreshingly honest about the demands of being a working mom. Leavitt was pregnant during the first six months of her job as President Donald Trump’s national press secretary on the campaign trail. She had her son, Nicholas, four days before Trump survived an assassination attempt at a Butler, Pa., rally in July 2024. Leavitt cut short her maternity leave and went back to work immediately.

“I felt compelled to be present in this historic moment,” she told our Emma Foley, who interviewed Leavitt last year for The Conservateur. “The president literally put his life on the line to win this election. The least I could do is get back to work quickly.”

Women hold many prominent positions in Trump’s cabinet. Trump chose who he thought were the best people for the job. Many of them happened to be women, and some of them mothers.

The president has no problem with working mothers. But Sarah Stock, a blogger with Rift TV, posted a video last week that has gone somewhat viral on the online right. She says in the video that even though it’s “undeniable” that Leavitt has been a fantastic press secretary, she thinks Leavitt should quit:

There’s nothing conservative about leaving your baby at home when you work a highly intensive and time-consuming role. Going back to work when your baby is four days old is a form of neglect. Babies, especially newborns, need their mothers. And the conservative movement needs to stop pushing this rebranded version of feminist ideology that says that “Women can do both.” Because they can’t.

Life is full of trade-offs. Leavitt has been honest about them; she couldn’t be a mother and a press secretary without great support from her husband and mother. Leavitt has four years to serve the president, then she’ll move on, if she wants, to a less demanding job. Although she regrets missing out on some moments with her son, the job “gives me a great perspective on life and allows me to remember that not every bad day is the end of the world because my greater purpose is being a mom.”

The conservative instinct to reject the “girlboss” attitude when it comes at the expense of family values is understandable, but Leavitt has no such attitude. Pro-family conservatives should cheer for women — working or not — who recognize motherhood as the highest good.