Says Kentucky Derby jockey John Velazquez turned down an invitation to the White House and said, “if I wanted to see a horse’s ass I…

On May 1, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez rode a dark bay colt named Medina Spirit to victory in the Kentucky Derby, the first of three Triple Crown races. 

The following day, a statement attributed to Velazquez started to spread widely on social media. 

“BREAKING NEWS,” one post said. “Derby winner Medina Spirit’s jockey John Velazquez turned down a White House invite today saying ‘if I wanted to see a horse’s ass I would of came in second.’”

Some people commenting on the post applauded Velazquez for the comment, while another took issue with the jockey insulting President Joe Biden. 

But the quote is fake, and this post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

We reached out to Ron Anderson, an agent who represents Velazquez. He told us that Velazquez hasn’t been invited to the White House and didn’t make the statement that’s being attributed to him on social media.

“He wouldn’t say something like that in a million zillion years,” Anderson said. 

Searching online, we didn’t find any evidence to the contrary. 

We rate this post Pants on Fire!