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Karoline Leavitt discusses 32-year age gap with husband, a fellow New Hampshirite

“It is unusual,” the White House press secretary agreed with “Pod Force One” host Miranda Devine.

Karoline Leavitt, holding her son Niko and with her husband in tow, arrives for a Halloween event at the White House on Oct. 30, 2025. JIM WATSON / AFP via Getty Images

By John Waller

November 21, 2025

1 minute to read

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary with deep New England roots, recently sat down with “Pod Force One” host Miranda Devine for an extended interview in which they discussed, among a wide variety of other topics, Leavitt’s 32-year age gap with her husband.

Leavitt, 28, is married to New Hampshire real estate developer Nicholas Riccio. The two wed in January of this year, according to People, after welcoming a baby boy, “Niko,” the previous July.

“It is unusual,” Leavitt agreed, after Devine, a New York Post columnist, labeled their relationship as such.

Leavitt said they met through a mutual friend when she was running for Congress in New Hampshire’s 1st District, a race she ultimately lost to incumbent Democrat Chris Pappas in November 2022.

“We were acquainted as friends for quite some time, but then, of course, we fell in love,” she told Devine. “And here we are today. We’re married with a beautiful baby, and he is just an amazing guy.”

Leavitt called Riccio an “incredibly hands-on father” and her “No. 1 fan.”

“He’s very introverted, unlike me,” she said. “He stays behind the scenes, he’s not on social media, he’s very private.”

Devine then asked: “What did your parents think when you said, ‘I’ve got this guy who’s, like, almost the same age as my dad’?”

“It’s definitely a challenging conversation to have at first,” Leavitt admitted, “but then, of course, once they got to know him and saw who he is as a man and his character, and how much he adores me, I think it became quite easy for them, and now we’re all friends. I mean it’s a typical family relationship.”

Earlier in the interview, Leavitt talked about her upbringing in Atkinson, N.H., where her parents opened an ice cream stand when she was in middle school.

“I had a beautiful childhood,” she said.

Leavitt attended Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Mass., before graduating from Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, N.H.