Does a video show authentic clips of world leaders speaking frankly about controversial narratives? No, that's not true: The video clip was posted with disclaimers in the caption and in the video itself clearly stating it is AI-generated. It was produced and published by RT, a state-controlled propaganda network funded by the Russian government.
The video appears in a post (archived here) published on X by @RT_com on Oct. 23, 2025. It is captioned:
Did you ever wish Western leaders would be a bit more honest?
If Bush said the truth about the Iraq war? If BoJo admitted to botching the Ukraine peace deal?
RT with a touch of AI imagined what such a world would look like
This is how the video appears in the post:
(Image Source: Lead Stories screenshot from x.com/RT_com/status/1981327311527170481.)
The 1 minute, 15-second parody video contains the AI-generated likenesses of six world leaders speaking frankly to the audience (pictured below). The scope of the fact check will not be the topics introduced in this transcript, but simply that this video is AI-generated.
(Image source: Lead Stories composite image of screenshots from x.com/RT_com/status/1981327311527170481.)
The dialogue begins:
Barack Obama: Do you ever question yourself?
George W. Bush: Why did I send Colin Powell to the UN with a weapon of mass deception in a vial when I knew Iraq had oil but no WMDs?
Nicolas Sarkozy: Did I help bomb Libya and kill Gaddafi to bury proof that it bankrolled my presidential campaign?
Ursula Von Der Leyen: Did I promote COVID jabs because I set up a €35 billion cash injection through a secret deal with Pfizer?
Joe Biden: Who was actually running the country when I could barely walk? And remember, remember, jember, remember my own name?
Boris Johnson: Whose businesses did I pay off when I told Ukrainians to keep fighting and dying when they had a peace deal on the table?
As each new figure comes on the screen, their name is displayed, The green RT logo shows in the upper right corner through the length of the video. At 50 seconds, a small disclaimer (pictured below left) appears in the lower left corner of the frame, it reads:
AI-generated parody content
(Image source: Lead Stories composite image of screenshots from x.com/RT_com/status/1981327311527170481.)
The video was made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Russian State TV network, an event commemorated at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow on Oct. 17, 2025. At 1 minute, 4 seconds the anniversary is announced in the video credits (pictured above right).
Each figure has a followup remark in the second half of the video, the dialogue finishes:
Barack Obama: Why did I keep my Nobel Peace Prize even after bombing 7 countries during my presidency? Because, yes I can.
Ursula Von Der Leyen: The truth is that we never actually question any of this.
Nicolas Sarkozy: And we only doing it now
Boris Johnson: because RT generated this video and made us say so,
Joe Biden: while RT has been asking such questions for 20 years.
George W. Bush: My fellow RT za zdorov'ye.
