In mid-February 2025, Russian media and Telegram channels reported Caroline Leavitt’s harsh remark to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. We have verified the authenticity of this quote.
As stated in the publications, the official representative of US President Donald Trump, Caroline Leavitt, reacted sharply to the speech of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, delivered during the Munich Security Conference. In response to his words that Germany would not support a peace imposed on Ukraine, Leavitt allegedly wrote: “Bundes Chancellor, choose your words more carefully. The only place Germany deserves in these negotiations is in the dock.” Some publications included a screenshot of Leavitt's Instagram post.
This was reported by major Russian media (RT, "Vedomosti", "Komsomolskaya Pravda", "Arguments and facts", "Russian newspaper", Lenta.ru, TV channelStar"), as well as Telegram channels "Uncle Slava"(184,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Open Ukraine"(179,000), "Ostashko! Important" (138,000), "Banksta"(134,000), "Washington Regional Committee» (133,000), etc.
14–16 February in Munich passed an international security conference that experts called historic. USA represented by Vice President J.D. Vance made it clear, that they are radically changing policy towards Europe and the countries of the Old World can no longer count on the previous security guarantees. In turn, the leaders of European countries criticized Washington's attempts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine without the participation of the country itself, as well as the European powers. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated, which does not support the “peace imposed on Ukraine”, and criticized Vance for "outside interference" in European democracy.
Judging by publications on the US President’s website and in authoritative sources, there was no official reaction from the White House to Scholz’s words. Including “Verified” did not find any information about a harsh statement from Caroline Leavitt, while it would undoubtedly have caused a diplomatic scandal.
A viral screenshot, which is distributed by Russian-language resources along with Leavitt’s statement, allegedly captured stories on her Instagram account @karolineleavitt. At the time of writing this analysis, this story is not there (they are stored for 24 hours).
However, the following circumstances attract attention. On the Internet (both in its Russian-language segment and beyond) the same screenshot is being shared, even though Leavitt has nearly 750,000 Instagram followers and at least some of them must have picked up on the emotional post at different times. It is impossible to explain this by the fact that Leavitt’s story was immediately deleted - the timer in the screenshot indicates that at least 13 hours have passed.
It is also not very clear why Leavitt posted her public statement in stories. This format is more convenient for short videos or personal photographs, rather than for appeals to country leaders, and even in the form of a commentary on a screenshot. Moreover, after 24 hours the appeal will no longer be available to the audience. But screenshots of supposedly real stories are actively are used to prove the authenticity of fictitious news, because then we can say that after the deadline the publication disappeared.
Moreover, media publications and Telegram channels say that Leavitt allegedly responded to Scholz’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, held on February 15. At the same time, in the story of the White House press secretary, a screenshot of the news from February 13 was used, when the German Chancellor commented on the telephone conversation between Trump and Putin.
According to TGStat, the first news about Leavitt’s statement, along with a screenshot, was spread by the pro-Russian Telegram channel “Before everyone else. Well almost. Special operation» February 15 at 14:02 Moscow time. This channel repeatedly mentioned in analyzes “Verified” as the primary source of fakes.
Thus, direct and indirect evidence suggests that this is a fake screenshot and Leavitt did not make such attacks against Scholz.
Cover photo: Wikimedia Commons.
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