IHIP News Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Karoline Leavitt Has Panic Attack On Air After Getting Caught Lying for Trump
Hosts: Jennifer Welch & Angie "Pumps" Sullivan
Date: September 10, 2025

Episode Overview

In this passionate and irreverent episode, Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan dissect the recent scandal involving Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, who allegedly suffered a panic attack live on air after being confronted about her repeated falsehoods in defense of Donald Trump amid new revelations tying Trump to Jeffrey Epstein. The hosts blend biting humor, raw outrage, and sharp political criticism to talk about hypocrisy within the MAGA movement, the role of performative Christianity in right-wing circles, and the culture of denial surrounding sexual exploitation among elites.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Performative Christianity and Political Hypocrisy

• The episode opens with an unfiltered tirade against Leavitt’s habit of opening political briefings with prayers—which the hosts call performative and hypocritical.
• Angie Sullivan: "She goes out in the press pool and she lies and she propagandizes and she makes excuses and she bends the truth. She is not tethered to reality." [00:06]
• The hosts draw parallels between childhood experiences with performative religious rituals and the current political theater:
  • Jennifer Welch: "It is this spiritual warfare... They are dangerously ambitious and they believe that, that Jesus Christ is coming to get all of them... It is a cult. It is a death cult." [01:00]
  • They stress that MAGA’s religious rhetoric is not innocuous and is spreading from the Bible Belt into mainstream national politics.

2. Epstein Documents and Shifting Narratives

• The conversation shifts to Leavitt’s comments on the newly-released Epstein documents implicating Trump and her attempts to discredit them.
• Co-host (Angie): Outraged that Leavitt frames child rape victims as “political props” and accuses Democrats of weaponizing their suffering:
  • "You are out there lying for a pedophile, for a ring of pedophiles. Then she says they don't care about crime. Your boss is a convicted felon." [03:53]
• The hosts meticulously critique the circular logic—MAGA clamored for the Epstein documents, but when evidence surfaces implicating Trump, they call it a hoax.

3. Leavitt’s On-Air Meltdown

• As Leavitt is pressed on supporting a forensic handwriting analysis to authenticate Trump’s signature in the Epstein documents, she waffles, then says,
  • Leavitt: "I have already seen many forensic analysts of signatures coming out. I believe it was the Daily Signal..." [08:56]
  • The hosts pounce, sarcastically affirming the obviousness of the evidence:
    • Jennifer: "Absolutely. It's his signature, Right? He did it. It's his signature." [09:08]
    • The mounting tension and Leavitt's evasive responses serve as the climax—where listeners can infer her “panic attack” moment that titles the episode.

4. Trump & Epstein: The Grim Friendship

• The hosts detail Trump’s close connection to Epstein with references to letters, photos, and the infamous "birthday book."
• They describe cartoons in the book showing the normalization—and even celebration—of abuse, drawing parallels to the way cults foster sexual exploitations:
  • Jennifer: "All cults have a sexual component to them... MAGA is a cult... this is the cover up portion of this right now and it's going to continue." [10:28-11:55]
• Drawing comparisons to scandals in the Catholic Church, the hosts emphasize the pervasiveness and normalization of abuse among elites.

5. The Outrage of MAGA’s Feigned Innocence

• Righteous anger peaks as the hosts ridicule MAGA politicians and supporters for their cognitive dissonance—publicly condemning pedophilia while defending those implicated in it.
• Angie: "If we know nothing else, Donald Trump is all in on that. He has been from Jump. So no, I do not believe a conspiracy started 22 years ago against Donald Trump. Nor do I believe that he didn't sign this, nor do I believe anything that's coming out about it." [12:39]
• They call out the public’s gullibility and the “moral collapse” that has allowed charlatans like Leavitt to rise to power.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "[Karoline Leavitt] is not tethered to reality... This is what she does right before she goes in and lies her ass off... in service to her dear leader, peacefully, in Jesus's name, Amen." – Angie Sullivan [00:06]
• "It is a cult. It is a death cult... complete hypocrites. And this is an absolute cancer. And I'm so saddened that what I thought was a regional thing is now going mainstream." – Jennifer Welch [01:00]
• "You are out there lying for a pedophile, for a ring of pedophiles... your boss is a convicted felon." – Angie Sullivan [03:53]
• "He surrounds himself with people that prop him up as the perpetual victim... She has no credibility. She is a zero credible messenger..." – Jennifer Welch [04:50]
• "You never skip your SPF and you carry hand sanitizer like an accessory. But what are you doing for HIV prevention?" – Brief aside/commercial, not content [07:08]
• "It is diabolical manipulation on purpose and sadly, I don't know if a percentage of the electorate is stupid or willfully stupid or both." – Jennifer Welch [06:38]
• "There are sketches of him handing these little girls balloons and then a sketch of the same little girls massaging him..." – Jennifer Welch, describing Epstein’s “birthday book” [10:28]
• "All cults have a sexual component to them... MAGA is a cult and this is the cover up portion of this right now." – Jennifer Welch [11:55]
• "Give it a gook. This guy is a bad guy. Especially about women. You should have known it. You didn’t. Now is the time to own up to it." – Angie Sullivan [13:10]

Important Timestamps

• 00:06 – Angie’s opening rant on Leavitt’s routine dishonesty and performative religion
• 01:00 – Jennifer on evangelical culture, spiritual warfare, MAGA hypocrisy
• 02:46 – Leavitt’s comments on Epstein documents and ensuing pushback
• 03:53 – Hosts express outrage at Leavitt framing child victims as political props
• 08:46 – Pressing Leavitt about signature analysis, leading to visible on-air distress
• 10:06 – Discussion of Trump’s close relationship with Epstein
• 11:55 – Broader commentary on cult dynamics and elite exploitation
• 13:10 – Final exasperation with continued denial among Trump/MAGA supporters

Tone & Takeaway

With their trademark blend of biting sarcasm, lived experience, and relentless critique, Jennifer and Angie lay bare what they see as a moral and intellectual crisis at the heart of right-wing politics and culture. They are shocked not by the malfeasance of political operatives like Karoline Leavitt or Trump, but by the vast numbers willing to believe and defend them. The episode is a raucous, cathartic, and sobering commentary on American politics in 2025.