“Too smooth to be true.” That’s the phrase flooding social media after 28-year-old political rising star Karoline Leavitt posted a campaign photo with her 60-year-old husband — a picture many say looked too perfect. The glossy portrait, meant to radiate confidence and unity, instead ignited a fierce online debate. Viewers accused Leavitt of over-editing or even Photoshopping her husband to appear younger, calling it “a political filter gone wrong.” Supporters defended her, saying every campaign polishes its image. But critics argue it raises deeper questions — about authenticity in politics, generational optics, and how much of today’s “truth” is digitally manufactured. What started as a PR moment is now a cultural flashpoint — one glossy photo at the center of a growing debate about what’s real, and what’s retouched.

Karoline Leavitt, 28, Called Out for ‘Photoshopping’ Husband, 60

Leavitt, Riccio and their son trick-or-treated at the White House on Oct. 30, the day before Donald Trump headed to Florida.
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s Halloween Instagram post drew questions about the appearance of her husband, who is 32 years her senior.

Leavitt, 28, on Sunday shared photos of herself with Nicholas Riccio, 60, and their 16-month old son, Niko, outside the pumpkin-adorned White House. The three also posed for a shot on the steps of Vice President JD Vance’s home at the Naval Observatory in northwest Washington, D.C.

But it was the first picture that caught people’s attention—and not in a good way.

“The airbrushing of your hubs face to make him appear younger was the trick,” one Instagram user wrote.

“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,” another weighed in. “What happened?”

Some Instagram users had questions about the appearance of Leavitt's husband in a photo from their Halloween at the White House.

Several other users joked about Riccio being Leavitt’s “dad.”

Leavitt did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.

The press secretary and former congressional candidate in New Hampshire previously described her marriage to the real estate developer, who also has roots in the Granite State, as the result of “a very atypical love story.”

“A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire and invited my husband,” Leavitt said on The Megyn Kelly Show in March, recalling their first meeting in 2022. “I was speaking. We met and we were acquainted as friends. And then we fell in love.”

Riccio, Leavitt and their son also made an appearance at the White House Easter Egg Roll in April.
Riccio, Leavitt and their son also made an appearance at the White House Easter Egg Roll in April.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Leavitt, who is Catholic, had Niko last July, and then married Riccio six months later.

“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,” said the youngest White House press secretary in history, who has been called “childish” at times.

“And he is so supportive, especially during a very chaotic period of life,” Leavitt added of Riccio. ”I say, ‘I walked into your life and it’s been a circus ever since,’ but God bless him because he’s fully on board.”

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