Karoline Leavitt Responds To Questions About White House Visitor
There are briefings—and then there are briefings. What happened Thursday morning in the White House Press Room was the latter. NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor walked into what she likely thought would be a standard sparring match. Instead, she got steamrolled by a press secretary who clearly didn’t come to play games.
In an exchange that quickly went viral, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt delivered what can only be described as a clinical dismantling of a reporter’s narrative-driven questioning. At the center of the clash: a controversial video shown by President Donald Trump during an Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, allegedly depicting the burial sites of white farmers killed in racial attacks.
"@Yamiche Alcindor is actually not a reporter ... she is a hardcore activist." -@MZHemingway pic.twitter.com/1fVjoHtLvj
— The Federalist (@FDRLST) November 7, 2021
Alcindor, attempting to launch into a query about the video’s veracity, framed her question around the premise that the video was “unsubstantiated.” Leavitt immediately seized the moment—not just to correct, but to challenge.
“What’s not true, Yamiche?” she fired back, refusing to let the question proceed on what she saw as a false or misleading assumption.
Then-PBS White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor characterized President Trump’s patriotic 2020 Mount Rushmore speech as a love letter to “white resentment” that promoted the “myth of America.” pic.twitter.com/lTobwlTl0s
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 2, 2025
Alcindor, undeterred, insisted the video was inaccurate, that it didn’t depict burial sites, and that the president’s framing was misleading. But Leavitt, armed with both the facts and the momentum, dismantled the premise with surgical precision. She not only defended the video’s content but cited the Associated Press, which had previously published a photo of the same monument with a caption confirming the purpose of the crosses: “Each cross marks a white farmer who has been killed in a farm murder.”
Leavitt’s tone was firm, even clipped. The effect was undeniable.
This wasn’t just a skirmish over a video. It was a battle for narrative control. Alcindor's line of questioning didn’t simply challenge a presidential decision—it attempted to inject doubt into the very reality of racially motivated violence against white South African farmers, a topic often ignored or politicized depending on who brings it up.
To that end, Leavitt wasn’t merely defending a video; she was defending a worldview—one that insists facts, no matter how uncomfortable or inconvenient, deserve oxygen in the public square. In a media environment where selective outrage often sets the tone, Leavitt delivered a message: That won’t fly here.
"What’s unsubstantiated!?"
Things get heated when NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor questions the veracity of the White House’s video on the political persecution and murder of white farmers in South Africa.
"It IS substantiated, not just by that video and the physical evidence that… pic.twitter.com/lXUJOyYY4Q
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 22, 2025
What happened in that briefing room was more than a viral moment. It was a sharp illustration of what happens when agenda-laden questioning meets a press secretary who has both the receipts and the resolve.
Alcindor’s attempt to frame the video as “unsubstantiated” fell apart under the weight of Leavitt’s fact-checking. And when Alcindor pivoted to broader questions about White House vetting procedures, it was too little, too late. Leavitt had already seized the frame—and held it.