White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, faced criticism online after posting Halloween photos with her husband.
Some social media users noted the photo seemed to be digitally altered to smooth her husband’s appearance.
Leavitt shared images of herself with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, 60, and their 16-month-old son, Niko, on Instagram on Sunday.
Highlights
- Karoline Leavitt faced criticism for allegedly photoshopping her husband’s face in Halloween Instagram photos.
- Leavitt shared images with husband Nicholas Riccio, 60, and their toddler son during White House Halloween events.
- Social media users pointed out Riccio’s unusually smooth face contrasted with his natural-looking hands.
Karoline Leavitt faced criticism for allegedly digitally altering her husband’s appearance in a photo
Image credits: Karoline Leavitt/Instagram
The family posed outside the White House and on the steps of the vice president’s residence, at the Naval Observatory in northwest Washington, D.C., dressed for Halloween.
In one image, Leavitt is holding her son in a pumpkin costume, but the attention quickly turned to her husband.
Several commenters suggested that Riccio’s face looked unusually smooth compared to his hands and other images taken by press photographers.
“The airbrushing of your hubs face to make him appear younger was the trick,” one user wrote.
Image credits: Karoline Leavitt/Instagram
Another said, “Karoline, Awesome picture but my friends noticed something: The guy on the left seems to have only his face photoshopped. His hands look like 60+ years old. What happened?”
Leavitt, who has more than 2.6 million Instagram followers, has not publicly addressed the claims. The Halloween post has attracted over 240,000 likes.
Leavitt has spoken openly about her marriage to Riccio, a real estate developer from New Hampshire. She described their relationship on The Megyn Kelly Show in March as “a very atypical love story.”
The couple has often faced scrutiny for their age-gap relationship
Image credits: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Leavitt, recalling their meeting in 2022, said, “A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire and invited my husband. I was speaking. We met and we were acquainted as friends. And then we fell in love.”
“He is my greatest supporter, he’s my best friend and he’s my rock. He’s built a very successful business himself, so now he’s fully supportive of me building my success in my career,” she has said about her husband.
Leavitt is the youngest White House press secretary in history.
The family’s Halloween outing coincided with White House festivities. U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump handed out candy to children on the South Lawn, accompanied by Leavitt, Riccio, and Niko.
Image credits: Karoline Leavitt/Instagram
News outlets captured unedited versions of the family photos, which showed Riccio in a more natural appearance. This is not the first time the couple has come under scrutiny for their age-gap relationship.
Earlier in March, Riccio was photographed with their son while visiting Leavitt at the West Wing in the White House. Riccio wore a pinstriped suit that ended up receiving comments like “gramps dressed like a 1930’s gangster.”
The couple also received comments likening him to Leavitt’s father at the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll event, where Riccio was wearing sunglasses and pushing a baby stroller.