In early April 2026, social media users claimed a video featured audio of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth farting after approaching a lectern for a Pentagon news conference, followed by a "Good morning."
The clips users shared showed the onscreen caption, "Hegseth fart in 4K." Some of the videos displayed the text "Hegseth Fart Moment Goes Viral Online" and "Awkward fart clip trends across social media." Snopes users searched this website for "did Hegseth fart" and "Did Pete Hegseth really fart at press conference."
Users' posts showed they largely believed the bodily sound genuinely originated from Hegseth and that the video hadn't been altered to add a sound effect.
While the visuals of the clip were real, a user who shares comedic content — including satire and parody — edited in the fart audio as a joke. As such, the fake fart video originated as satire.
Fact-checking site Lead Stories reported Elaad Eliahu — a White House correspondent for the Timcast production company — originally posted the video showing Hegseth walking to the microphone on social media.
Snopes contacted the Pentagon for comment and will update this article if we receive further information.
How we began our research
Using the Google Images search engine, Snopes sought to first locate the date the original video of Hegseth walking in for a Pentagon news conference was recorded. We looked for photos and videos from any past event at the Pentagon in which Hegseth wore the same tie as in the clip, which had small American flags.
The search results indicated the video — minus the added-in fart sound effect — originated from a March 13 news conference featuring the defense secretary and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Associated Press hosted the full event video on YouTube, including audio from a microphone that sharply picked up the sound of Hegseth's final footsteps before standing at the lectern.
Fox News aired the news conference live on TV, as did LiveNOW from Fox on YouTube.
The origins of the fake fart audio
After establishing the date of the original video, we next performed a reverse image search for the version of the video with the added-in fart sound effect and found numerous reposts. For example, on April 6, a user managing the official X account for the Iranian embassy in Kenya posted the video with a jocular reference about the Strait of Hormuz reading, "The Strait is opened."
Users also posted the video on Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Threads, TikTok (archived), X and other platforms.
Lining up dozens of social media reposts chronologically can help a researcher find the source of a piece of content. That method helped verify that an Australian man named James Kennedy first posted the video with the inauthentic fart audio on April 5.
Kennedy — known for years on social media under the moniker of "The 28 Year Old Male" — shared the clip on his Facebook, Instagram, Threads and TikTok (archived) accounts. One of his captions read, "Follow for more important updates. Things in America are falling apart at the seams, specifically in the cotton jocks of the Whitehouse. This goes deeper than you may think—more to come."
Kennedy's Facebook page displayed the category "Comedian." His Instagram page featured the category of "Satire/Parody." In another example of his content, a recent clip on his Threads account featured an added-in fart sound effect and comedic commentary during an alleged conversation between the Artemis II astronauts and NASA mission control team.
In a February 2026 video, Kennedy thanked his followers for their support, saying, "I live a life now where I spend all of my time trying to make strangers laugh who inevitably become my mates."
Snopes contacted Kennedy to ask about his content and will update this story if we receive additional details.
For further reading, we previously reported about flatulence rumors involving President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden.
Because the effectiveness of satire is subjective, we use "originated as satire" or "labeled satire" ratings based on creators' description of their work.