Karoline Leavitt's Parents Are Shockingly Close In Age To Her Husband

Karoline Leavitt's age-gap romance with husband Nicholas Riccio has raised eyebrows since she stepped in as Donald Trump's press secretary in January. Karoline is 32 years younger than Riccio, making him old enough to be her father. And that's not far from the truth. Karoline's father, Bob Leavitt, is slightly older than Riccio, while her mother, Erin Leavitt, is actually a few years younger than her son-in-law.

It's unclear how the Leavitts feel about their daughter's relationship with her much older husband, but they seemingly snubbed their January wedding on social media — and Bob is particularly active on Facebook. He certainly celebrated Trump's inauguration and his daughter's first day on the job, but there was no word about the big day that had happened days before. Karoline, for her part, has no issues gushing about her husband on social media. "I get to marry the man of my dreams. I feel SO overwhelmingly BLESSED. Thank you God," she captioned an Instagram post to announce her December 2023 engagement to the wealthy real estate developer. 

However, Erin has shared family photos that include Riccio, so who knows? Maybe Karoline asked them not to post anything about her wedding, and they're perfectly okay with having a son-in-law who could've been their schoolmate. In fact, it wasn't long after high school that Erin met the man who would become the father of her two sons and the daughter who made history as the youngest person ever to hold the position of White House press secretary. 

Nicholas Riccio was born in 1965, which makes him nearly five and a half years older than Karoline Leavitt's mother and five years younger than her father. That means Karoline isn't the only one in the family with a big age difference in her relationship. Bob Leavitt was born on May 4, 1960, while Erin Leavitt was born on July 18, 1970, creating a 10-year age gap between the two. 

In a 2024 Facebook post to celebrate Erin's 54th birthday, Bob revealed that he met his wife when she was a teenager and he was close to 30. "If you see my lovely Wife today wish her a Happy Birthday. 36 birthdays ago today we went out on our first date. We've been side-by-side ever since. Happy Birthday Erin hope you have a wonderful day. I love you!" he wrote alongside a picture of the two together. If our math is right, she was 18 and he was 28 at the time.

Their age gap seemingly was never an issue, as they're still going strong. Devout Catholics, Bob and Erin raised their three children with faith at the forefront — something Karoline is thankful for. "My faith, my marriage, my family life — it's everything to me," she told the New York Post. She seems especially grateful for her father's influence on her career trajectory. "What an honor to attend the White House Christmas party with my dad. I wouldn't be here without this man!" she wrote on Instagram.