Leavitt nukes reporter over image of white crosses in South Africa
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday “nuked” a reporter who came with an assumption, asked Leavitt to respond and was corrected, then doubled down.
It was Yamiche Alcindor of NBC, formerly of PBS, which is involved in its own scandal at the congressional level now facing defunding demands from members who object to the institution taking tax money and then delivering leftist and biased reporting.
Alcindor cited footage of white crosses representing white farmers murdered in the white genocide being allowed by the government in South Africa, and referenced the “burial sites.” It was part of a video President Trump showed during an Oval Office meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Wednesday.
Trump talked about the footage when confronting Ramaphosa about alleged genocide of white farmers in South Africa.
One item also documented in the video was widespread South African chants of “kill the farmer.”
The crosses actually represent the lives of white farmers whose land was confiscated by the government and then who were murdered in racial violence.
Here’s the image:
FYI: @Yamiche — this is from the @AP pic.twitter.com/UfzMhbUuDK
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 22, 2025
Here’s her exchange with Leavitt.
.@PressSec nukes Fake News @Yamiche for LYING about the burial ground of white farmers killed in South Africa pic.twitter.com/BhCTGumnoz
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 22, 2025
Alcinder said President Donald Trump described how the image showed a thousand burial sites.
“We know that that’s not true and the video wasn’t showing that,” she said, adding that Trump said the video “was showing a burial site, and it is unsubstantiated that that’s true.”
Leavitt explained multiple times that the image shows crosses representing the white farmers who have been murdered.
“Crosses are representing their lives, and the fact they are now dead, and their government did nothing about it,” she said.
Alcindor immediately change course, suddenly asking, “Who at the White House” is responsible for protocols to prevent “unsubstantiated information” from being used.
Leavitt explained that one of the reporting organizations at the briefing, the AP, actually used the image and described it this way: “Each cross marks a white farmer who has been killed.”
Leavitt concluded that it was a “ridiculous” line of questioning.