Karoline Leavitt surpasses Jen Psaki in number of PolitiFact checks as White House press secretary

WASHINGTON, DC: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt surpassed one of her office predecessors under the administration of former president Joe Biden in the number of fact-checks received from PolitiFact, reported Fox News on Tuesday, March 18.

Within two months in office, Leavitt has been fact-checked thrice by the website. This puts her count above Jen Psaki, who during her entire tenure of 16 months as the press secreatry for Biden, was checked only twice by the website.

What were the fact-checks faced by Karoline Leavitt?

At the age of 27, Karoline Leavitt is the youngest person in the history of the United States to become White House press secretary. She has been fact-checked by PolitiFact thrice since incumbent Donald Trump was sworn in on January 20. Out of them, two were reported as 'False' and one as 'Half True'.

The first two checks faced by Leavitt were 10 days after the new administration came into power. She claimed that DOGE had discovered that "$50 million taxpayer dollars" was used to provide contraceptives in Gaza, which was labeled false.

She also blamed the Department of Agriculture under Biden for mass killing chickens and creating egg shortage, which was deemed half-true.

Leavitt faced her latest fact-check on Thursday, March 13, when she claimed, "Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people." The statement has been debunked by PolitiFact, with chief correspondent Louis Jacobson writing that "virtually all economists" have characterized tariffs as "tax hikes rather than tax cuts".

PolitiFact fact-check numbers of press secretaries under Donald Trump and Joe Biden

Karoline Leavitt's immediate predecessor under the Biden administration, Karine Jean-Pierre, has reportedly been fact-checked four times while holding the office of White House press secretary. Out of them, two were rated 'False,' and the remaining 'Mostly True.'

Jean-Pierre held the position from May 2022 through January 2025. Prior to her, Jen Psaki received two fact-checks, one labeled 'True' and the other 'False.' She had served as press secretary from January 2021 to May 2022. 

Press secretaries during the first Trump administration also faced extensive fact-checking from PolitiFact. Sean Spicer, who was in office for only six months was fact-checked nine times. Kayleigh McEnany and Sarah Huckabee Sanders have been checked four and five times, respectively.

MAGA slams PolitiFact fact-checks

Conservatives reacting to the news on the social media platform X slammed PolitiFact for checking Karoline Leavitt thrice within two months. The following tweets demonstrate their takes.

"There is no way. I watched Psaki and Karine lie to the public almost daily," wrote a user.

"Tells you everything you need to know about Politifraud," jibed another.

"It's not fact check. It's anti-truth propaganda," claimed one.

"Politifact is a left-wing media. They have TDS," accused another.

"Fact-checking is a partisan game these days, it seems," quipped an individual.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.