A Florida nurse has been dismissed from her job after posting a profanity-laced TikTok video wishing physical harm on White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who is expecting her second child.
Lexie Lawler, a labour and delivery nurse at Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital, said in the now-deleted video: 'As a labour and delivery nurse, it gives me great joy to wish Karoline Leavitt a fourth-degree tear. I hope that you f***ing rip from bow to stern and never sh** normally again, you c***.'
Baptist Health confirmed Lawler's termination on 23 January, stating: 'The comments made in a social media video by a nurse at one of our facilities do not reflect our values or the standards we expect of healthcare professionals.' The hospital added that 'there is no place in healthcare for language or behaviour that calls into question a caregiver's ability to provide compassionate, unbiased care.'
Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer condemned the remarks as 'disgusting' and said they 'have no place in medicine or in our community.' Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier called for the state Board of Nursing to revoke Lawler's licence, describing the comments as 'vile.'
Lawler appeared unrepentant, posting further videos after the death of a fellow nurse in Minneapolis, using expletives and accusing critics of targeting her for 'bad language.' A GoFundMe set up by her husband has raised nearly $7,000 for legal fees, claiming she was 'fired for exercising her First Amendment rights.'
