Dana Perino and Karoline Leavitt have one major thing in common: both women have served as White House press secretaries. Perino’s time in the White House was during the George W. Bush administration. Like Leavitt, Perino’s promotion to the role also marked a historic first. Perino was the first Republican woman to hold the position, while Leavitt is the youngest press secretary. 

Currently a Fox News anchor, Perino’s been using her airtime to get on Leavitt’s good side. After dishing out compliments, Perino met up with Leavitt in March 2025. “Great catch up with @karolineleavitt, as my mom complimented, ‘she’s a real pistol!’” Perino declared in her Instagram post. In the group photo, Perino and Leavitt stood next to each other, causing Leavitt to appear surprisingly tall.

Leavitt is 5 feet, 4 inches tall, and while that’s slightly above average for U.S. women, she looks pretty short in photos with substantially taller women like Lara Trump. However, Perino’s only 5 feet tall, and that 4-inch difference gives Leavitt a definite boost when they take a pic together.

Perino can also identify with Leavitt when it comes to dealing with significant height differences at the White House. In an essay for Lean In, Perino detailed a moment when her boss, Tony Snow, gave her a pep talk about taking his place as press secretary.

“He put his hands on my shoulders, made me look him up into his eyes and said, ‘You’re better at this than you think you are,’” she recalled. At 6 feet, 5 inches, Snow was 17 inches taller than Perino

In many cases, it’s pretty evident that Dana Perino is petite. The Fox News anchor sometimes draws extra attention to her short stature, like in a 2017 Facebook post where she posed with the musician Eric Church. “The shortest person Eric Church ever met? Me!” Perino declared.

In a 2018 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Perino demonstrated an even more dramatic height difference when she posed for a picture with George “Tyrus” Murdoch. Her Fox News colleague is 6 feet, 7 inches tall, and Perino only reaches the middle of his chest, as seen above. That same year, Perino shared a behind-the-scenes Facebook post where her feet were dangling from an adjustable swivel chair. Although she was wearing heels, Perino remarked in the caption, “When your feet don’t reach the floor. Or the apple box.”

Perino even has her own online segment for Fox, “Short Questions,” which appears to take its name from her diminutive size. Aside from her own references to her height, Perino’s also been on the receiving end on numerous height-related jests from Greg Gutfeld, one of her co-hosts.

Gutfeld’s no stranger to controversial on-air moments, and while Perino seems to take these jokes in stride, sometimes audiences have seen Gutfeld’s behavior as cringy. For instance, in a 2023 broadcast, Gutfeld called Perino “the little lady” (via The Wrap) during a discussion about homelessness. While Perino didn’t seem fazed by Gutfeld’s remark, his comment could read as disrespectful and ill-timed, given the serious nature of the topic.

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