The day after Donald Trump announced his federal takeover of law enforcement in Washington, MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson was invited to sit in what’s called the “new media” seat at the White House press briefing.
The seat includes the “privilege” of being called on first by White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. Johnson seized the moment to speechify about “arson” and “murders” he claimed he’d witnessed outside his DC home.
Remember when the White House invited plagiarist Benny Johnson to the press briefing, and he told a wild tale about his DC house…a murder and a fire? IT WAS A LIE!!
Johnson’s history of lies and manipulation are reported here. https://t.co/VgpnNmdcqY
— Laurie (@Laurieluvsmolly) August 30, 2025
Fact-check by the New York Times:
Mr. Johnson took the opportunity at the briefing to recount what he claimed was his own experience with crime in the nation’s capital in recent years. He said that he had recorded murders on a camera outside his home, and that his “house was set ablaze in an arson.” Any claims that Washington wasn’t dangerous, he said, were “lies.”
“Thank you for making this city safe, because no parent should have to go through what my family went through,” Mr. Johnson told Ms. Leavitt.
In fact, police records show, nobody has been murdered since at least 2017 on the block where Mr. Johnson lived in Washington. And his home was not burned, though his next-door neighbor’s house was “intentionally set” on fire, according to the city’s fire department. Mr. Johnson left Washington permanently in 2021.
As the Times notes, Johnson has been fired from multiple journalism gigs for plagiarism.
And in 2024, he was exposed for literally being on the Kremlin’s payroll.
Here’s Johnson’s suck-up moment at the White House.
Benny Johnson claims that while he lived in DC he was carjacked, had murders and mass shootings happen right outside his house, and had his house set ablaze
Sounds like a skill issue, bro pic.twitter.com/aYduzGS7E0
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 12, 2025
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