Karoline Leavitt

Was TV host Joy Behar arrested at the airport trying to flee the country after a $50M lawsuit involving comments about White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt? No, that's not true: The story narrated in a viral video was written by AI according to online detection tools, and there have been no actual news reports about any such lawsuit. An…

Do two viral videos authentically show a 200-foot statue of Jesus Christ being placed on the grounds of the White House in Washington? No, that's not true: Both videos were possibly generated using AI according to online detection tools, and a live webcam of the White House shows no such statue. Details in the videos, such as the number of…

Did the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives just discover $2.7 trillion in improper payments in Medicare and Medicaid overseas? No, that's not true: The report of trillions of dollars in improper payments, which accumulated since 2003, was published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in the first half of 2024 -- this was…

Did Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, say, "Jesus Christ didn't have electricity either and he did just fine" while explaining President Donald Trump's tariff policies? No, that's not true: None of Leavitt's press briefings before the purported quote appeared online included that remark. There is evidence that the supposed quote originated in a joke response from a Reddit…

Did the U.S. government spend or plan to spend $50 million exclusively on condoms in Gaza? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that the U.S. government intended to spend that much money just on condoms for the small territory. U.S. aid to Gaza is focused on humanitarian needs like food, medical supplies and other essential help. The U.S. State…

Is a video of a man failing to buy a sandwich with an EBT card at a Subway restaurant from January 2025 and related to the federal funding freeze announced by the Trump administration that month? No, that's not true: The footage was online at least half a year before the second Trump presidency. As of January 29, 2025, the…

Did U.S. troops enter California under "emergency powers" from President Donald Trump to turn on water from the Pacific Northwest, in January 2025? No, that's not true according to state authorities: The U.S. military did not enter the state to turn on the water, according to a statement posted by the California Department of Water Resources. The statement said the…

Does a clip showing open computer files prove President Joe Biden's farewell address was prerecorded? No, that's not true: The recording only showed Biden's photo, not the purportedly prerecorded video file with his speech. Plus, a White House pool photographer took a photo capturing the final moments of the speech and posted it as the president was still speaking. The…

Is it unusual that U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was not invited to President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration? No, that's missing context: A social media post's assertion that usually the British prime minister "would be the first name on the list" is untrue. Traditionally, foreign leaders were not invited to U.S. presidential inaugurations, a presidential historian told Lead Stories. The claim…