Running influencer Kate Mackz is facing backlash over a video filmed at the White House featuring White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Mackz’s video, which has been deleted and reposted several times, shows White House press secretary Leavitt giving her a tour of the West Wing, while Mackz asks her whether her job is a “dream come true.”
Fellow running influencers and other outspoken TikTokers have expressed anger at Mackz, while others have come to her defense.
Newsweek has contacted Kate Mackz via email outside of working hours for comment.
Aaron Schwartz/Sipa via AP Images
Why It Matters
The White House is making a concerted effort to promote non-traditional media outlets such as podcasters and influencers. While some say this is a reflection of the media landscape, others say the people picked as “non-traditional” reporters are more supportive of Trump’s agenda.
Who is Kate Mackz
Kate Mackz is a running influencer with 784,600 followers on TikTok as of early May 2. Mackz’s videos typically involve her asking someone — usually someone famous, such as an actor or a fellow influencer — how many miles they are planning to run that day.
The two then go on a run together, and Mackz interviews them about their lives and their work.
This is not the first time Mackz has been to the White House, as she spoke on a mental health panel at the Biden White House in 2024.
This is also not the first time that Mackz has interviewed a political figure. Her running video with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has 4.3 million views, and is pinned as her top post on TikTok.
What To Know
The video posted by Mackz shows her asking Leavitt how many miles she is running. Leavitt suggests they go on a tour of the White House instead of going for a run.
Mackz is then shown around the White House briefing room, Leavitt’s office, introduced briefly to her staff and shown President Trump’s red Tesla which, according to Leavitt, White House staff are allowed to drive.
Kate Mackz has sustained backlash for the video, including from Hope Walz who asked Mackz to un-pin the video of her dad.
Walz’s original comment is no longer visible on Mackz’s video, and she said it had been hidden by Mackz in the comment section of another video about the influencer.
Hope Walz also made a separate video where she spoke about how her dad taught her at a young age that running is a privilege. She said he instilled in her the knowledge that it is a privilege to have the time, funds, and quality food for the fuel needed in order to run well and safely.
Erin Hooley/AP Photo
Comments under Mackz’s video are mainly negative. One comment, with over 52,000 likes says: “Interviewing both sides is the correct move under normal circumstances. This is not normal circumstances. This administration is actively tearing apart the foundation of our country and constitution.”
Another with 18,000 likes says: “History will look so unfavorably on this administration and everyone who platformed it. Shame on you.”
One comment from Lizzy Dances, a creator with 2.1 million followers, which has 30,000 likes just says: “I fear this is crazy.”
Several commenters have pointed out that while Mackz is proud of her mental health advocacy, the Trump administration has cut $1 billion in grants for mental health work in schools.
Despite the majority of the comments being negative, there are a few viewers who commented “MAGA” and some people who said Mackz works as an interviewer, so it is within her job description to interview Leavitt as she is a high-profile political figure.
Mackz does not ask any political questions, or press Leavitt on Trump policies such as tariffs and mass deportations.
Several TikTokers said that despite Karoline Leavitt saying she wasn’t running any miles that day because she was “at the beautiful White House,” she could have gone on a run. There is a running track at the White House which was added by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
What People Are Saying
Hope Walz on TikTok: “Being a part of the running community is a privilege that not all people have access to…whether it be you just having the time to run, access to funds to buy the gear, access to healthy quality foods that fuel you while you’re training and while you’re running, access to a safe stable situation that allows you to be in a good mental state to be able to run, all of those things are hard to come by…I don’t really understand how platforming an administration that cuts mental health services, that cuts literal shipments to food banks, is entirely hurting the climate…all of those things prevent people from getting into the running community which is what I thought Kate’s platform was for.”
Kate Mackz White House video caption: “From being at the White House last year speaking on a mental health panel and meeting President Biden, to being back again this year — thank you for having us. Truly surreal to walk through a place with so much history and meaning.”
What Happens Next
Mackz’s video currently has 1.6 million views. Her video of Tim Walz is still pinned as her top post, and it is unclear whether she will remove it.
