A 200-foot Jesus statue outside the White House? No, that’s AI | Fact check
The claim: Videos show 200-foot Jesus statute on White House lawn
A Feb. 15 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be a statue of Jesus being raised in front of the White House.
“We are Sooooo Back,” reads the video’s caption. “Amazing statue of Jesus Christ, arms wide open and 200 feet tall, being placed at the White House grounds by President Donald Trump. Wow.”
A similar post on X was reposted more than 6,000 times. Other versions of the claim shared on Facebook included a slightly different video.
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Our rating: False
A livestream of the White House shows no such statue being built. The videos are digital creations consistent with content generated by artificial intelligence.
White House livestream shows no statue under construction
A livestream outside the White House shows there is no 200-foot statue under construction. Any structure of that height would tower over the White House, which is 70 feet tall at its highest point, according to the White House Historical Association.
The videos originated with a TikTok account that frequently makes posts that include elements found in AI-generated content.
Walter Scheirer, an engineering professor at the University of Notre Dame whose area of research includes visual recognition, told Paste BN that both videos “contain numerous irregularities that wouldn't be present in a genuine scene.”
For example, in the video that shows workers standing on scaffolding around the statue, one of the worker's arms seems to disappear at random, Scheirer said. In the other video, the equipment moving in the foreground visibly distorts the appearance of the metal structure in the background.
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Paste BN reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Check Your Fact and Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- Walter Scheirer, Feb. 20, Email exchange with Paste BN
- Spectacular Sights, accessed Feb. 21, TikTok account
- earthTV, accessed Feb. 21, White House Live Stream
- The White House Historical Association, accessed Feb. 21, White House Dimensions
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