Karoline Leavitt Calls ‘Total FAKE NEWS’ on NPR’s Story About Pete Hegseth Being Replaced – Twitchy

The media and Dems’ latest claims about Pete Hegseth have hit the next stage of fake news development.

First comes the story from the media. Then the Dems grab that and demand resignations and/or firings. Next up somebody in the field of “journalism” runs a thinly sourced (if sourced at all) story that somebody might actually get fired as a result of all of it, after which the Dems use that to try and get their base all excited.

We’re in that last stage now, and NPR has fueled that one up: 

NPR – The White House has begun the process of looking for a new secretary of defense. https://t.co/uQbed3nTqu
https://t.co/oN4TFKBE5S

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 21, 2025

White House press secretary gets plenty of opportunities to say “fake news” these days, but this one deserved the all-caps treatment: 

This ⁦@NPR⁩ story is total FAKE NEWS based on one anonymous source who clearly has no idea what they are talking about.

As the President said this morning, he stands strongly behind ⁦@SecDef⁩. https://t.co/5Npig8968v

— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) April 21, 2025

Rapid Response 47 also posted this:

WRONG. Fake News! https://t.co/VEKtGdn9oK

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 21, 2025

Here’s the sole source NPR cites in their story: “According to a U.S. official who was not authorized to speak publicly.” 

Sounds like a rock solid story to us! Well, not really.

Based on one anonymous source? This isn’t journalism, it is activism and propaganda.

— P.T. Ward (@HTWardish) April 21, 2025

Recommended

That’s what they do! Remember when NPR explained that they wouldn’t be covering the Hunter Biden laptop news because it was “not a story” and a “pure distraction”? That proved they should be enshrined in the “activism and propaganda media” hall of fame. 

NPR’s disclosure at the end of the story is interesting as well: NPR disclosure: Katherine Maher, the CEO of NPR, chairs the board of the Signal Foundation.

Hmm.