White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is not only exceptionally good at her job, but she refuses to suffer fools gladly. NBC News Washington correspondent Yamiche Alcindor found this out the hard way, and it was glorious. On any given day, there are 50 or so correspondents in the briefing room clamoring to be called upon, so when Leavitt acknowledges you and says, "Go ahead," your questions should be well-thought-through and on point. Thursday morning, Alcindor chose to pour milk on stupid and gobble it down. 

During Thursday's press briefing, Leavitt acknowledged Alcindor, who started to pose this question:

ALCINDOR: The president showed a video that he said showed more than a thousand burial sites of white South Africans, and he said they were murdered. We know that that was not true and that the video wasn't showing that, so I wonder why did the president choose...

Leavitt interrupted Alcindor, immediately questioning her premise: "What's not true, Yamiche?"

ALCINDOR: It's not true that the video was showing a burial site, it is unsubstantiated, that that's the case...

LEAVITT: No, it is true that that video showed the crosses that represent—

Alcindor interrupted her again, "But that's not what the president claimed." 

The look on Leavitt's face said it all: I'm not the one, and this is not the day. Then she spoke in small, pointed words that Alcindor could understand:

LEAVITT: The video showed images of crosses. In South Africa. About white farmers who have been killed and politically persecuted because of the color of their skin. 

That morning bowl of stupid had clearly affected her thinking, because Alcindor insisted on maintaining her line of questioning, which was nothing but, "Gotcha!" She wasn't asking to understand, she was trying to drive a narrative. Leavitt's words got even smaller, but Alcindor refused to let up, talking over Leavitt as she tried to respond:

ALCINDOR: But that isn't what the president claimed —

LEAVITT: Those crosses are representing their lives —

ALCINDOR: That these were the graves —

LEAVITT: And those crosses are representing their lives. Those crosses are representing their lives and the fact that they are now dead and their government did nothing about it. Are you disputing that there's no...

ALCINDOR: I'm disputing the fact that the video showed what the president claimed it showed because it did not show that, but even more, what I'm asking you, who at the White House —

Alcindor decided to finally get to the point, and it had nothing to do with the veracity of a video showing the gravesites of white South African farmers.

LEAVITT: But it did show that. It showed white crosses representing people who have perished because of racial persecution.

ALCINDOR: Who at the White House is verifying what videos the president shows, and what protocols are in place when there is unsubstantiated information being put out for the world and world leaders.

Leavitt was over trying to reason and simply lowered the boom, and it was satisfying as cold lemonade on a humid summer day:

LEAVITT: Yamiche, what is unsubstantiated about the video? The video shows crosses that represent the dead bodies of people who are racially persecuted by their government. In fact, the Associated Press of all places, has a picture of that very monument and the caption from the Associated Press is, "Each cross marks a white farmer who has been killed in a farm murder." So, it is substantiated not just by the video and the physical evidence that everybody saw on display in the Oval Office but by another outlet in this room, the Associated Press. So you should take it up with them if you believe the claim is unsubstantiated. And that's a ridiculous line of questioning.

Leavitt dismissed Alcindor with the quickness, as was deserved and necessary. Alcindor, like her counterpart Elie Mistal, will spin white crosses for dead white farmers into racism against Black and brown people without missing a beat. Leavitt knew this, and didn't give her an inch, exposing Alcindor for the midwit that she is.

"@Yamiche Alcindor is actually not a reporter ... she is a hardcore activist." -@MZHemingway pic.twitter.com/1fVjoHtLvj

— The Federalist (@FDRLST) November 7, 2021

Pretend concern for White House vetting practices on videos and what information goes out to the world and world leaders? Yamiche, Please. Alcindor's line of questioning was nothing more than an attempt to stick it to the White House. In the way back years of 2020, when Alcindor worked for PBS, her level of so-called analysis was puddle deep and equally muddy. Here's just one example:

Then-PBS White House Correspondent Yamiche Alcindor characterized President Trump’s patriotic 2020 Mount Rushmore speech as a love letter to “white resentment” that promoted the “myth of America.” pic.twitter.com/lTobwlTl0s

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 2, 2025

The term "master class" is overused. What Leavitt did to Alcindor is post-doctoral level instruction on how to handle the dishonest and ridiculous legacy media. 

I'll be keeping this clip on loop for a while. You should, too.

WATCH:

"What’s unsubstantiated!?"

Things get heated when NBC News’ Yamiche Alcindor questions the veracity of the White House’s video on the political persecution and murder of white farmers in South Africa.

"It IS substantiated, not just by that video and the physical evidence that… pic.twitter.com/lXUJOyYY4Q

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 22, 2025