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A Florida hospital has fired a labor and delivery nurse who wanted to deliver pregnant White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt with severe injuries in an abusive TikTok.
Nurse Lexi Lawler was fired from Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital after she shared a TikTok in which she said she wanted Levitt, 28, who is pregnant with her second child with husband Nicholas Riccio, to be seriously injured during childbirth.
“As a labor and delivery nurse, I am so happy to wish Caroline Leavitt a 4th degree rupture,” Lawlor said in a TikTok that has since been deleted and widely shared on other platforms. “I hope you tear it apart from bow to stern and never run away normally again, you—.”
A TikTok directed at Levitt sparked a firestorm on social media, with supporters of President Donald Trump calling for the nurse’s firing at a hospital in Boca Raton, Florida.
A spokesperson for Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital later confirmed Lawler’s termination in a statement to WPTV and CBS 12 on Friday, Jan. 23.
“The comments made by nurses at our facility on social media videos do not reflect our values or the standards we expect from our health care workers,” a hospital spokesperson said. “After an expedited review, this individual is no longer employed by our health system.”
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“While we respect the right to individual opinion, there is no place in the medical field for words or actions that call into question a caregiver’s ability to provide compassionate and unbiased care,” the spokesperson continued.
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Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer also confirmed Roller’s firing, saying in a Facebook post on Jan. 22 that he “reached out to hospital leadership” as soon as he learned of the video, according to CBS 12.
“Disgusting comments like this have no place in the medical community or in our community,” Singer said.
The White House did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, January 24, nor did Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
Following Lawler’s firing, a GoFundMe was launched on her behalf. The fundraiser is seeking $14,000 for the nurse’s legal defense, which will be donated to “employment and civil rights attorneys to help Lexi defend herself and not be financially bullied into silence.”
“She was a liberal woman who used her personal social media on her own time to harshly criticize public figures tied to a cruel and harmful regime,” GoFundMe says of Lawler. “Her words were direct, angry and unapologetic. They were directed at the establishment, not at the workplace.”
“That speech was legal. The retaliation was real,” the fundraiser continues in part. “After right-wing backlash and online targeting, her employer chose risk management over freedom of expression and fired her instead of defending her rights.”
Lawler also responded to backlash for his comments about Leavitt in a video shared on Jan. 24 after his firing.
“So they killed a man in Minnesota,” the nurse said, referring to the Jan. 24 shooting death of ICU nurse Alex Preti in Minneapolis involving Homeland Security agents. “They killed a man in Minnesota. You mothers are coming after me because I used bad language, you guys. I’m on the right side of this, you guys.”
