Did White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announce on Fox News that tech billionaire Elon Musk left the U.S. after revealing "a secret at-home method that can reverse diabetes for good"? No, none of that is true: Paid ads circulating on Facebook used voice-cloning technology to mimic the speech of public persons. No credible sources reported the purported "news," and a Fox News spokesperson denied that the TV network had anything to do with the production or broadcasting of those videos.
The claim originated from a post (archived here) on Facebook where it was published on March 3, 2025. It opened:
๐๐ถ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฒ๐๐ป'๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐--๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐!
98% of diabetics could completely turn their health around in a single day, but Big Pharma is too busy cashing in on lifelong prescriptions of metformin and insulin. They make billions keeping people stuck in a cycle of meds instead of actually fixing the root cause.
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 16:23:17 2025 UTC)
The video
The clip shared in the post opened with what appeared to be Leavitt in an on-air appearance on Fox News. The voice resembling her began:
Today, Mr. Musk left the country, following threats from Pfizer and other pharma giants. Just a day earlier, he shocked the internet by revealing a secret at-home method that can reverse diabetes for good. Before millions could watch, Big Pharma had the guide taken down in under a minute. But here's the good news: Our editors uncovered a leaked version, and you're about to see it now.
Then, the video showed what appearex to be Elon Musk in an on-stage appearance. The voice mimicking him continued:
Studies prove that Metformin users have the same risk of dying as people who keep eating sweets all day long. Crazy, right? This is a huge problem for anyone suffering from blood sugar spikes, as 92% of them take this drug. So I want to share with you the 30-second kitchen trick I used to achieve a perfect 90 without Metformin or insulin injections.
However, "Musk" never revealed the promised "kitchen trick" in the clip. Instead, the voice resembling him said (at the 2:30 mark):
If you're still here, I urge you to click the "Learn More" button and watch a short free video that reveals how to escape diabetes for good. No expensive ingredients, no invasive procedures, no drastic lifestyle changes -- just 30 seconds and your fridge. But you need to act fast. The billion-bollar diabetes industry will stop at nothing to take this guide down to keep profiting from your health, click the link now before you lose access...
The link below the video led to a page displaying a Fox News logo but the link didn't show the real address of the Fox News website:
(Source: Mosquitoeros screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 16:33:44 2025 UTC)
The website from the screenshot above appeared to be a fitness-gear online store, not a credible media or scientific organization.
As the Facebook Transparency tab showed, the video reviewed in this fact check was a paid ad:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 16:05:13 2025 UTC)
No reports
A search across Google News for the keywords seen here showed no credible stories corroborating the tale from the video in question:
(Source: Google screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 17:08:11 2025 UTC)
A Google search for mentions of Leavitt discussing diabetes across the Fox News website between Donald Trump's second inauguration and this writing produced zero matches:
(Source: Google screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 17:12:30 2025 UTC)
A Google search across Musk's account on X for the word "diabetes" did not show any posts published in 2025:
(Source:Google screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 18:22:42 2025 UTC)
On March 4, 2025, a spokesperson for Fox News told Lead Stories via email:
FOX News did not produce or broadcast either video.
Signs of AI generated content
When Lead Stories ran the opening fragment that appeared to show Karoline Claire Leavitt through DeepFake-O-Meter (archived here) and InVid (archived here), those detectors suggested that the sound in the clip is much more likely to be AI generated than not:
(Source: DeepFake-o-Meter screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 15:54:22 2025 UTC)
(Source: Invid screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 10:51:09 2025 UTC)
Similar tests of the first 13 seconds of what seemed to be Musk's voice also suggested that it was not authentic:
(Source: DeepFake-o-Meter screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 12:34:07 2025 UTC)
(Source: InVid screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 17:30:05 2025 UTC)
One more variation of the claim making rounds on Facebook purported to show CNN anchor Anderson Cooper announcing the same "news" about the supposed Musk's departure from the U.S.:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 12:42:22 2025 UTC)
When tested for the presence of generative AI, detectors rated the voice resembling that of Cooper as not authentic:
(Source: DeepFake-O-Meter screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 18:21:42 2025 UTC)
(Source: InVid screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 17:59:58 2025 UTC)
(Source: Hive Moderation screenshot taken on Tue Mar 4 18:11:16 2025 UTC)
Lead Stories contacted CNN for additional comments.
Read more
Other Lead Stories fact checks mentioning Elon Musk are here.
