When it comes to inflation data, the numbers can be misleading or easily framed in a more positive or negative light for anyone who doesn’t fully understand them. That’s exactly what the White House learned this week when a post about Karoline Leavitt’s affordability comments drew a community note on social media.
Leavitt’s Affordability Comments
In an interview with Fox News this week, Leavitt highlighted and praised the President Donald Trump‘s administration for several accomplishments. The comments came ahead of Wednesday’s inflation data.
“Thanks to President Trump and Republicans and common sense policies across the board, our country is safer, our country is more affordable,” Leavitt told Fox News.
A clip of the interview was shared by MediasTouch Senior Digital Editor @acyn on X. That post received a Community Note for being misleading.
“The CPI has risen 5.1% from January 2025 to June 2026, the latest available data,” the community note reads.
As pointed out by MeidasNews, the Community Note comes with the Consumer Price Index showing consumers having a higher overall price increase since Trump returned to office.
“The figures complicate Leavitt’s broader assertion that the country has become more affordable under Trump, particularly because lower inflation does not mean that prices have returned to their previous levels,” MeidasNews writes.
On Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index showed a 3.4% year-over-year increase for July, in line with estimates. The 3.4% figure was down from June’s 3.5% increase.
Core CPI excluding food and energy was up 0.2%, in line with estimates.
Inflation data is hard to paint a picture of affordability with higher costs for consumers.
Leavitt it stepping down from the Press Secretary role later this month, according to a Trump social media post Wednesday.
Past Community Notes
The White House and Leavitt have received community notes for comments and social media posts in the past.
The official White House account posted about the American steel industry to show the increase in steel production in the country from 2024 to 2025. A graph from the official White House social media account received a Community Note and public ridicule instead of being celebrated.
“American steel is BACK,” the White House posted on X.
The post included a graph with two bars, one for the steel production in 2024, which was around 80.8 Mt and one for the steel production in 2025, which was around 81.8 Mt.
From 2024 to 2025, U.S. steel production was up by around 1.2%. The problem is the graph appeared to show the bar for 2025 as around twice as high as the bar for 2024, prompting a Community Note.
“Misrepresentation. The actual increase is from 80.8 to 81.8 which is 1.2% increase. Graph is zoomed to show top part only to create an impression that increase is very high,” the community note reads.
Official White House accounts have gotten flagged for Community Notes before including the Rapid Response 47 account on X flagged for trying to disprove a report on the Board of Peace.
Some members of the Trump administration have also had Community Notes slapped on their posts.
Press Secretary Leavittalso found herself previously getting a Community Note, along with the Rapid Response 47 account, due to misleading data about price and inflation trends.
The sharing of a DoorDash report saw users ask for a Community Note due to the posts from Rapid Response and Leavitt being “misleading.”
“The report actually shows rising food prices. Avg price of a cheeseburger, a soda & fries increased 3.8% YoY in Sep25, while typical restaurant meals rose 3.2%,” the note read.
The Community Note on Leavitt’s post could show how the data might not be as positive as the White House is making it out to be.
A bill to ban members of Congress from trading stocks that also snuck in parts of the Voter ID Act saw many Democrats vote against it due to the Voter ID Act or the bill not including the president’s trading.
“Breaking: 198 Democrats just voted against the Stop Insider Trading Act, which bans members of Congress from trading stocks while in office. Shameful,” the White House tweeted.
That tweet generated a Community Note for being misleading to social media users.
“The Stop Insider Trading Act was amended to also include voter ID provisions mirroring elements of the SAVE America Act (requiring photo ID for federal elections). Democrats opposed the combined bill, which passed the House 232-198,” the note reads.
Community Notes continue to be one of the ways everyday consumers and voters call out misinformation shared on social media.
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