In April 2025, an image circulated online allegedly showing a screenshot from a Fox News interview with U.S. President Donald Trump's "border czar" Tom Homan. The screenshot included a chyron at the bottom of the screen that read: "Homan: 'I find it offensive that Taco Bell has items in Mexican, not English."
The image appeared on X, Facebook, Threads, Reddit, Bluesky, Tumblr and TikTok, where social media users appeared to take it at face value. For example, one X user captioned the screenshot: "NEW: Border Czar Tom Homan says Taco Bell's menu is offensive to 'real Americans.'"
(X user @Roshan_Rinaldi)
However, the image was manipulated. It originated as a screenshot of a genuine Fox News interview with Homan, but the chyron displayed at the bottom of the screen featuring the alleged quote had been superimposed onto the screenshot. Therefore, we have rated the image as fake.
The interview was published on Fox News' website on Nov. 18, 2024. In the footage, Homan laid out the immigration policies of the then-incoming Trump administration. During the discussion, he made no mention of the fast-food chain Taco Bell.
At the 4:37 mark of the authentic footage, Homan's facial expression, his clothes, the background, the wording of the red news ticker and the time (12:07 CT) all matched up with the corresponding details in the fake screenshot, as shown below:
(Fox News / social media)
As the image shows, the Fox News chyron actually read: "Homan on border priorities in first 100 days." In the fake screenshot, the format of the chyron and the font of the text were different from what appeared in the authentic coverage.
In late April 2025, comedian James Schlarmann messaged Snopes via Bluesky to say that he created the fake image. He posted it on Facebook on March 30.
It was then posted by a different TikTok user on March 31. Later X posts then shared the image, which included a watermark for the TikTok account.
Further, numerous online searches produced no credible evidence that Homan complained that Taco Bell has items listed in "Mexican not English." Searches on Google News and Newspapers.com produced no matching results.
Snopes contacted Homan via the Department of Homeland Security's media team to ask if he had ever made such a comment in any interview and will update this story if we receive a response.
Snopes has previously reported on rumors involving Taco Bell, including a claim that Fox News opted to report on Taco Bell's menu instead of Trump's guilty verdict at his New York trial in 2024 and the assertion that the "Bell Beefer" burger was among the fast food chain's first offerings.