On Friday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt invited 9-year-old cancer patient Vivian Sleeth from Rockledge, Florida, to take the podium in the briefing room.
It was Vivian’s wish to field questions just as Leavitt does, adding that Leavitt’s team joined in, taking on reporter roles. The first question posed to Vivian was about her favorite color.
She responded “Blue” — the color she and her mother, Brittany Sleeth, were wearing along with “Team Vivian” hoodies.
Another of Leavitt’s team asked Vivian if she had any pets or any siblings.
“I have a doggie and a friend,” adding “an annoying friend,” which lead members of the ‘press corps’ to erupt in laughter. Her mother then added quickly, “You can cut that.”
She also noted that Vivian has a brother, prompting the young girl to confirm that he indeed exists.
Vivian answered several questions, revealing that her favorite ice cream is chocolate and that pancakes are her top food choice overall. She also correctly stated that Donald Trump is the president.
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When asked what she would do if she were president for one day, Vivian said she would hand out gifts to both children and adults—including coupons for an hour-long spa visit for the adults. She also shared that she wants to be a police officer when she grows up, and her biggest wish right now is to own “a million dogs.”
Florida Today reported in August that Vivian has been defying the odds in her battle against DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), a rare and aggressive pediatric brain cancer that was diagnosed after she began seeing double in June 2022.
“There is no cure or known cause. Even with radiation therapy, children typically only survive nine to 11 months after their diagnosis, the Cleveland Clinic reports,” the outlet said.
In November 2022, Vivian began undergoing experimental treatments at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., where focused ultrasound waves were applied to her tumor.
Friday’s briefing room event evoked memories of Trump naming 13-year-old Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel an honorary member of the Secret Service during his speech to Congress earlier this month.
Trump said that DJ was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2018 and was given only five months to live. The president noted, “That was more than six years ago.”
Democrats took a lot of heat when they refused to stand for or otherwise acknowledge the moms of two girls who were viciously murdered by illegal aliens and for Daniel during Trump’s speech earlier this month to a joint session of Congress.
Their behavior led Clinton pollster Doug Schoen to predict that some Democrats start to leave the party, including Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman.
“I certainly think that is possible if you look at what he’s said and what he’s done. It’s clear he’s uncomfortable in the Democratic Party, as frankly, I am,” he told Fox News host Laura Ingraham. “I disagree with the Republicans on a lot of things. They go further than I would go. So I cling to my membership in the Democratic Party, but it’s not the same party.”
“It isn’t the party of John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton. Moderates are really not welcome. And I wish we could have the kind of discussion about issues that most of us want, that President Trump, I think, was inviting from the opposition, that is sadly absent,” he added. “It’s a woke, far-left party that I really have very little in common with, with the party that I helped build and [helped] re-elect, proudly, Bill Clinton.”