In June 2025, videos surfaced on social media alleging that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had told interim President Capt. Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso, West Africa, to "sit down, boy."
For example, one TikTok user shared a video in a June 18 post that, as of this writing, had amassed more than 506,000 views.
The rumor appeared elsewhere on the platform and on Facebook, LinkedIn and a similar but different YouTube video. Further, Snopes readers emailed us and searched the site looking for confirmation that the exchange occurred.
However, none of the posts produced any evidence to corroborate the claim.
The videos appeared to follow a script and used similar images of Leavitt and Traoré. Artificial intelligence (AI) video creation tools seemingly helped create the images, as well as the narration, scripting and sequencing of the videos. The narrators also sounded stilted, paused midsentence or mispronounced the pair's names as well as other words.
Without naming a source for its information, the YouTube video's narrator said:
In the guest chair sat Capt. Ibrahim Traoré, the young leader of Burkina Faso. He wasn't there to start drama or make headlines. He was invited to discuss African independence and America's role in West Africa. Simple enough.
Right across from him was Karoline Leavitt, a sharp-tongued former political spokesperson known for her cutting remarks and quick comebacks. Now here's where things get interesting. These two weren't supposed to clash. The producers had planned a civilized discussion about foreign policy.
But sometimes live television has other plans. About 20 minutes into the segment, Capt. Traoré was calmly explaining his country's perspective on Western involvement in African affairs. His voice was measured, his points well articulated. Nothing controversial, nothing inflammatory, just facts delivered with quiet confidence. That's when Karoline made the move that would haunt her forever. She leaned forward, pointed her finger directly at him, and with all the arrogance she could muster, snapped two words that would echo around the world: "Sit down, boy."
There was no evidence to support the assertion that Leavitt had spoken to Traoré in this manner or at all. A Google search only revealed similar AI-generated content posted on social media and a Google News search produced no evidence that such an incident took place.
Similarly, searching for the terms "Karoline Leavitt" and "Ibrahim Traoré" on X revealed no proof of the two meeting on any television show as claimed in the social media posts. A Google search for "Karoline Leavitt," "Ibrahim Traoré" and "sit down boy" also produced no results showing that Leavitt said this phrase to the Burkinabé leader.
If there was even a sliver of truth to the claim — for instance, if Leavitt and Traoré had met in a television studio — reputable news and entertainment media outlets would have documented it. That had not happened.
A disclaimer at the bottom of the YouTube version of the video read: "Altered or synthetic content: Sound or visuals were significantly edited or digitally generated."
The clips surfaced as Traoré, a military junta leader allied with Russia, gained popularity in Burkina Faso and beyond.
In short, the claim appeared to be made up from whole cloth for the purpose of gaining clicks or views online.
This was not the first misleading rumor related to Leavitt that captured social media users' attention. For example, we previously debunked the false claim that a judge had slapped Leavitt in court, an assertion that originated with a similar style of AI-generated video.