Following the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House on June 14, 2026, an image circulated widely online purportedly showing U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham posing with two shirtless fighters.
For example, one Facebook user posted the alleged photo (archived) with the caption, "Happy Pride Month," while another wrote, in part (archived), "His dream come true of being in the middle of 2 big sweaty men."
The image also spread on X, Threads and Reddit, while Snopes readers contacted us to ask whether it was authentic.
Many posts appeared to reference an unsubstantiated rumor that the South Carolina Republican identifies as gay.
In short, the image is fake. It was not possible to identify who created the fabricated photo, but it was generated using artificial intelligence software and was based on an authentic picture Graham posted on social media.
Snopes contacted the Facebook user who posted the earliest iteration of the image we could find (archived) to ask whether they created it or where they first saw it. We will update this article if we receive a response.
The verification site of OpenAI — the artificial intelligence company that created ChatGPT — concluded the image was generated using its AI software. The company's verification tool detected SynthID, an invisible watermark for AI images that Google developed and OpenAI also uses.
(OpenAI)
The fake image is based on an authentic photo Graham posted on his official X and Facebook accounts on June 14, 2026. Referencing President Donald Trump's birthday, Graham captioned the picture, "Looking forward to the fights. Happy birthday, @POTUS!"
That photo, in which Graham is flanked by two men in suits, featured no visible signs of digital manipulation.
Looking forward to the fights.
Happy birthday, @POTUS!#UFCWhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/dLZRJdsmUt— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 14, 2026
For further reading, Snopes has reported on numerous rumors that spread after the UFC event at the White House, such as whether footage shows Trump falling asleep during a fight. We've also verified a photo showing Graham holding a child's bubble wand at Walt Disney World in early 2026.