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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Democrats "fell right into" a political "trap" set by President Donald Trump during his State of the Union address this week, arguing their reaction to the recognition of crime victims exposed their "true colors" on immigration and public safety.
"They fell right into it because they cannot help themselves," Leavitt said Wednesday on "Hannity."
"They truly stand on the side of the tens of millions of illegal aliens who they allowed to pour into our nation's open borders under the Biden administration. They truly stand on the side of career criminals who have gone to jail not once, not twice, not three times, but 12 times in the case of [Iryna Zarutska] … whose neck was slit by a career criminal who was released back onto the streets of North Carolina by Democrat policies."
Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, during a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 7. (Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
"They could not even stand for her heartbroken mother, who President Trump was commending last night," she continued.
"They couldn't even stand for a young girl [Dalilah Coleman] who is now suffering a brain problem for the rest of her life because of an illegal alien truck driver who smashed into her family's vehicle."
Leavitt's comments came after Democratic lawmakers present in the House chamber on Tuesday largely declined to stand and applaud as Trump recognized a handful of victims of illegal immigrant crime, political violence and soft-on-crime policies.
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Anna Zarutska, the mother of Iryna Zarutska, is recognized by President Donald Trump during the State of the Union address in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
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Marcus Coleman holds his daughter Dalilah Coleman as President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Erika Kirk, the widow of political media personality Charlie Kirk, is recognized by President Donald Trump during the State of the Union address in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Anna Zarutska, mother of Charlotte rail-stabbing victim Iryna Zarutska, was among those recognized, as was 7-year-old Dalilah Coleman, who suffered critical injuries following an automobile collision involving an illegal immigrant who was driving an 18-wheel tractor-trailer.
Trump also recognized Erika Kirk, widow of his late friend and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk, during the speech.
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While Leavitt criticized Democrats' actions as "despicable," she praised Trump's "brilliant" idea to trap them on the national stage by challenging the lawmakers to stand if they believed protecting the interests of the American people was more important than protecting those of illegal immigrants.
"It was his idea to put that into the speech, and it proved to be right, because he wanted the American people to know that this is a choice between common sense, and President Trump, and Republicans and crazy radical Democrats who stand for nothing except for being against Donald Trump," she said.
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Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.
