Fake statement attributed to Donald Trump about Kevin McCarthy emerges amid flurry of arrest posts

On March 18, former President Donald Trump claimed he would be arrested the following week in an investigation he soon described as a "witch hunt." But after he made that announcement on his social media platform Truth Social, a different statement about a "witch hunt" started to circulate online. 

"If Kevin McCarthy doesn’t end these investigations immediately, I will direct my supporters in Congress to vote to end his speakership and I will have no choice but to leak some ‘interesting videos’ I took of him at Mar-a-Lago!" read what looked like a statement from Trump, replete with his Save America letterhead and delivered in all caps. "End the witch hunt now!"

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The date on the purported statement is March 18, 2022 — nearly a year before McCarthy was elected speaker in January 2023.

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We found no evidence that this is an authentic statement from Trump. It doesn't appear on his website, where other statements are posted, nor did we find any news coverage about an alleged video of McCarthy at Mar-a-Lago. 

On March 18, 2023, Trump did post a statement on his website about a "witch hunt," but he was referring to a grand jury in New York that may indict him in connection with a hush money payment. 

We rate claims that this is an authentic statement from Trump False.