On Feb. 1 several social media accounts claimed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said "Jesus didn't have electricity either" in response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's supposed threat to cut off energy to the United States amid a tariff dispute. These claims are false. There is no evidence Leavitt said this and the quote appears to have originated from a satirical Reddit post. There is no evidence Trudeau made specific comments about cutting electricity to the United States, but Ontario Premier Doug Ford did.Ìý
"They want you to panic, but President Trump wants you to remember Jesus didn't have electricity either and he did just fine," reads a quote misattributed to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.Ìý
Several social media accounts on and the , formerly known as Twitter, shared the false quote via a link to or screenshot of .Ìý
The article claimed Leavitt's remarks were in response to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who reportedly said he would consider cutting electricity to the United States if Trump went through with his tariff threats. Â
Rating: FalseÂ
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø watched Leavitt's and White House press briefings through the White House YouTube channel, and at no point did she make the attributed quote.Ìý
The transcript of the Jan. 28 briefing, by the White House, does not include the remark. There is no evidence any of the briefings were edited to remove the remark.Ìý
Keyword searches of Leavitt's supposed quote lead to the Irish Star article first published Jan. 31.Ìý
Clicking through to the article linked on the Threads post leads to with the headline, Karoline Leavitt Shocks as She Tells Press 'Jesus Didn't Have Electricity Either.'Â
Clicking to "read the full article" leads to the Irish Star website and a version of the article titled, Karoline Leavitt Hit With False Claims She Told Press 'Jesus Didn't Have Electricity Either.'Â
The article was edited on Feb. 1 and focuses on how the quote was falsely attributed to Leavitt.Ìý
An older version of the article does not appear to have been archived, but the URL reads "leavitt-shocks-tells-press," which appears to be a shortening of the original false headline.Ìý
A news curation tool at the bottom of the article includes a link to the same story on the Irish Star site, but with the original false headline intact.Ìý
False quote likely came from joke postÂ
Further keyword searches lead to a Reddit user of the false quote attributed to Leavitt.Ìý
A Jan. 29 to the subreddit r/PoliticalMemes by user Reg_Cliff superimposes the quote over a picture of Leavitt at the Jan. 28 White House press briefing.Ìý
"Asked about ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø premiers saying they’re ready to cut electricity exports to the U.S. over Trump’s tariffs trade war," the post's title reads.Ìý
The Reddit post appears to be the earliest date the quote appears online, according to a Google search.Ìý
In separate comments, the user with the intention it would "read so absurd that it would be funny."
The satirical post specifically mentions Canada's premiers and not the prime minister as the Irish Star article does.Ìý
ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø could find no evidence Trudeau made specific claims about shutting off electricity to the United States in response to Trump's tariff threats.Ìý
A previous ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Press fact check notes that Trudeau said "everything is on the table" in regard to retaliation measures.
However, it was Ontario Premier Doug Ford who floated the idea of cutting electricity to Michigan, New York and Wisconsin should the tariffs take effect.Ìý
Sources
Claims spread on () and () on Feb. 1, 2025
of Irish Star article, with headline, Karoline Leavitt Hit With False Claims She Told Press 'Jesus Didn't Have Electricity Either,' from Feb. 3, 2025 ()
White House press briefings from () and () plus White House of Jan. 28 briefing posted Jan. 29, 2025 ()
of Irish star article with headline, Karoline Leavitt Shocks as She Tells Press 'Jesus Didn't Have Electricity Either,' published Jan. 31, 2025, accessed Feb. 4, 2025 ()
Reddit user to be originator of false quote on Feb. 4, 2025 ()Ìý
User's joke to r/PoliticalMemes subreddit from Jan. 29, 2025 () and comments about from Feb. 4, 2025 ()Ìý
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