No, Karine Jean-Pierre didn’t say the US and Ukraine won World War II

Social media users are claiming White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is rewriting history about the United States’ and Ukraine’s roles during World War II.

A May 9 Facebook post shared a video of a White House press briefing in which Andrew Feinberg, White House correspondent for The Independent, a British news outlet, appears to ask Jean-Pierre about the U.S. not condemning Nazi symbolism in Ukraine. The video included Russian subtitles.

In response, Jean-Pierre appears to say, "Seventy-nine years ago, the United States and our Ukrainian allies joined forces to combat the oppressive regimes of (Adolf) Hitler and (Joseph) Stalin. While Berlin is now an ally, the threat from the east persists. That’s why we’re committed to standing by Ukraine and offering our full support in any way we can."

The Facebook post’s caption read, "OMG, the anti-Russian misinformation has gotten so deep that the White House press secretary is rewriting the history of WWII saying the US (and Ukraine) fought against both Hitler and Stalin."

(Screengrab from Facebook)

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

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“NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte says that ‘if Trump surrenders Ukraine to Putin, he will personally expel the United States from the alliance.’”

The video’s audio was edited. This exchange about World War II between the journalist and Jean-Pierre didn’t happen.

The same video was shared May 8 on X, where it had been viewed more than 550,000 times by May 9. It was marked with a community note that said the audio was fake. The video also had been shared on a pro-Russia Telegram channel, Newsweek reported.

In footage from the real May 7 White House press briefing that the fake video altered, Feinberg asked about the White House’s plans to persuade Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Jean-Pierre said President Joe Biden has been in contact with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about reopening the Kerem Shalom border crossing to get humanitarian aid into Gaza.

World War II, Hilter and Stalin were not mentioned during this press briefing.

During World War II, the U.S. was allied with the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. The U.S. did not fight with Ukraine, which was occupied by German forces during most of the war. Ukraine was returned to Soviet control in 1944.

We rate the claim that Jean-Pierre said the United States and Ukraine won World War II Pants on Fire!