Explicit Fed chair resignation video spreading online is fake
- Published on July 25, 2025 at 21:17
- 3 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"BREAKING: Total chaos erupts at the FED. Jerome Powell RESIGNS live on stage at FED emergency meeting," says a July 21, 2025 post on X.
The video purports to show Powell cursing the economy, inflation, Wall Street and the press before declaring that he is "out."
Similar posts spread across X and other social media platforms as Powell faces intensified criticism from Trump, who has pushed the Federal Reserve chair to lower interest rates and lambasted the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation project. The two bickered over the price tag for the makeover during a July 25 meeting, with Powell correcting the president's false claim that the facelift would cost $3.1 billion.
But the video purporting to show Powell lashing out and announcing his departure is fake, with its audio created using artificial intelligence.
The Hiya.com voice-cloning detection tool within the Verification Plugin, also known as InVID-WeVerify, assessed that clip's audio is "very likely AI-generated."
Searching the Federal Reserve's YouTube channel, AFP matched the visual to a March 22, 2023 press conference delivered after the Fed hiked interest rates (archived here). Specifically, the altered clip lifted footage from CNBC's live coverage of the event (archived here).
AFP matched Powell's hand movements in the doctored video to a moment in the press conference when Powell, asked whether disinflation was occurring, responded that inflation on goods had been coming down for six months.
No notice saying Powell had resigned appeared on the Federal Reserve's website as of July 25, 2025 (archived here). AFP previously debunked a fabricated resignation letter that bore signs of artificial intelligence but was nonetheless circulated by conservative commentators and a US senator.
Trump, who appointed Powell to the role in 2017, has floated the idea of removing the chairman but also said he is unlikely to oust him before his term expires in May 2026.
The Republican said following his July 25, 2025 meeting with the Federal Reserve chair: "To do that is a big move and I just don't think it's necessary, and I believe that he's going to do the right thing."
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