Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, ripped the BBC and other media outlets for taking statements from the Hamas terror group as “total truth.”
Asked about reports of two separate incidents, in which the Israel Defense Forces was accused of opening fire on Gazans seeking humanitarian aid, Leavitt said the White House was looking into the veracity of the reports.
But “unlike some in the media, we don’t take the word of Hamas with total truth,” she told reporters at the White House press briefing on Tuesday.
Leavitt then held up a paper showing what she said were several iterations of BBC posts on social media.
“They wrote, ‘Israeli tank kills 26,’ ‘Israeli tank kills 21,’ ‘Israeli gunfire kills 31,’ ‘Red Cross says 21 people were killed in an aid incident,’ and then, oh wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying ‘We reviewed the footage and couldn’t find any evidence of anything,’” she said.
“Oh, OK. So we’re going to look into reports before we confirm them from this podium or before we take action,” Leavitt added. “I suggest that journalists, who actually care about truth, do the same to reduce the amount of misinformation that’s going around the globe on this front.”
The Washington Post also issued a correction about its reporting on the same incident.
Israel says that Hamas fired on those seeking aid, and the IDF stated that it fired warning shots near an aid site in a second incident, in which it says that some people took a prohibited route and approached Israeli military positions.
‘Pure evil’
Leavitt opened Tuesday’s briefing, addressing the antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday in which an Egyptian-born man burned Jews, as they gathered to push for the release of the hostages in Gaza, with what the FBI described as a “makeshift flamethrower” and an incendiary device. The suspect allegedly shouted antisemitic things as he attacked the Jews, who range in age from their 60s to 80s and who were hospitalized, including in serious condition, per local police.
“President Trump and the entire administration’s hearts go out to the victims. They are in our prayers during this unimaginable time,” Leavitt said. She called the attacker a “monster” who committed an attack, including against a Holocaust survivor, that was “pure evil.”
Any antisemitic act in the United States is “one too many,” the press secretary said. “Frankly, that’s something the previous administration was not willing to say.” (The Biden administration frequently stated of Palestinian civilians in Gaza that one life lost is “one too many.”)
She told “Jewish Americans at home and across the country, this president has your back.”
Leavitt also addressed U.S. President Donald Trump’s social media posting on Monday, stating that any nuclear agreement with Iran would include no enrichment capabilities for the Islamic Republic.
Contrary to reports purportedly detailing a proposed pact, Leavitt said that Trump “made his position very clear” in the post.
“In fact, it couldn’t be any more clear,” she said.
U.S. Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff “sent a very detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime that the president hopes they will accept,” Leavitt said. “If not, they will face grave consequences.”