Fact check: No evidence White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre had drunken driving crash
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The claim: White House press secretary involved in drunken driving incident March 26
A March 26 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes a photo of the White House press secretary alongside two images of police cruisers with flashing lights.
“DC Metro Police fail to administer DUI test,” reads the post in part. “Let Karine Jean Pierre leave without ticket. Late night accident razing eyebrows (sic).”
The post was shared more than 250 times in less than two weeks. Other versions of the claim received thousands of additional interactions on various social media sites.
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Our rating: False
There is no evidence any such incident happened. A spokesperson for the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police said it had no record of any such incident, and a White House spokesperson said the claim was false.
Photo in post is from 2022 train, vehicle crash in Colorado
Multiple officials have said the claim is baseless.
“We have no record of this incident,” Makhetha Watson, a spokesperson for the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department told USA TODAY.
White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton also told USA TODAY the claim was false.
Fact check: Video altered to show White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre avoiding question
One of the photos included in the posts dates back to Sept. 16, 2022. It is a still image of police body-camera footage from the scene where a Colorado woman was injured after a freight train hit the parked police vehicle in which she was detained. The same image can be seen in news reports from the time in the Denver Post and the Washington Post.
Another photo included in other versions of this claim is a screenshot from body camera footage showing Memphis police officers beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols on Jan. 7, as reported by NPR. Nichols later died at a hospital, and his death prompted protests around the country.
USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the claim for comment.
Reuters, PolitiFact, the Associated Press and AFP also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Olivia Dalton, April 7, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Makhetha Watson, April 6, Email exchange with USA TODAY
NPR, Jan. 27, The city of Memphis releases videos of Tyre Nichols' arrest and beating
The Denver Post, Sept. 28, 2022, Video shows train slam into Platteville police vehicle with woman inside
The Washington Post, Sept. 26, 2022, Videos show train crash into Colorado police cruiser with woman inside
AFP Fact Check, April 5, No proof for claim Karine Jean-Pierre drove while intoxicated
The Associated Press, April 5, Posts spread baseless claim about Karine Jean-Pierre
PolitiFact, April 5, No evidence White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was involved in a drunken driving crash
Reuters, April 5, Fact Check - No evidence Karine Jean-Pierre was involved in a drunk driving accident in March 2023, posts use unrelated photos
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim of Karine Jean-Pierre drunken driving crash
