Target Didn’t Cancel its Pride Collection
Plus: U.S. Senators’ Bogus $800K Ukrainian Hotel Stay; Russian Disinfo Campaign Spreads to TikTok
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In today’s edition: Right-wing influencers wrongly praise Target for supposedly swapping its Pride collection with an “America First” line; based on a distortion of government data, two U.S. senators are falsely accused of spending $800,000 on a single night in a Kyiv hotel; and a prolific Russian disinformation campaign sets its sights on TikTok.
Plus: NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week”
Today’s newsletter was edited by Sofia Rubinson and Eric Effron.
1. Bogus Claim Target Replaced Pride Merchandise with ‘America First’ Collection
By Charlene Lin and Sofia Rubinson
What happened: Conservative social media users are falsely claiming that Target replaced its controversial LGBT collection for Pride Month (June) with a collection celebrating “America First” policy.
Context: Target has been under political pressure for its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and has drawn criticism for its promotion of LGBT-themed clothing and accessories. In January 2025, Target announced that it would end its DEI initiatives, and the retail chain has pulled some LGBT-oriented merchandise from a number of its stores.
A closer look: Against this backdrop, some conservative commentators have been pushing the claim that Target has replaced its Pride collection with one celebrating President Trump’s “America First” agenda.
On June 2, convicted and pardoned Jan. 6 rioter Derrick Evans posted a picture of an American-themed display in a Target store and stated, “BREAKING: Target OPTS OUT of Pride month & replaced its Pride collection with an American First Summer display.” The post garnered 1.2 million views and 56,000 likes in two days.
Pro-Trump X user @JDunlap1974 posted the same photo and caption, and added, “WINNING!!” The post received 12,200 views and 750 likes in two days.
Actually: Target did not “opt out” of Pride Month. And its patriotic-themed displays are part of a usual Fourth of July promotion and are not labeled “America First.”
Target’s website hosts a 2025 Pride collection selling LGBT-themed merchandise, including a rainbow patio umbrella, a banner reading “Born to Shine,” and a rainbow-colored earrings set. Many of these items are available in the chain’s stores, according to Target’s site.
Target’s 2025 “Coastal summer style” collection has many USA-themed items, but none are labeled as “America First,” NewsGuard’s review of Target’s website found. Photos of Target’s America-themed store displays also do not contain the phrase “America First.” NewsGuard identified multiple social media posts containing photos of Target’s July 4 America-themed displays from prior years.
Asked about Target’s 2025 Pride and USA-themed collections and their availability in stores, Target said in a statement to NewsGuard: “We’re committed to providing products that delight our customers for an array of occasions and holidays. These products are available online and in the Target app, as well as in select stores.”
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2. False Claim of the Week: Senators Graham and Blumenthal Each Spent $400,000 of Taxpayer Money on Hotels in Ukraine
NewsGuard’s “False Claim of the Week” highlights a false claim from NewsGuard’s Misinformation Fingerprints proprietary database of provably false claims and their debunks. The false claim that U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal each spent $400K of taxpayer money on hotels in Ukraine was deemed the “False Claim of the Week” due to its widespread appearance across social media platforms and websites, its high engagement levels, and the high-profile nature of the sources promoting it. Given those three factors — in addition to its significant subject matter — its potential for harm makes it our False Claim of the Week.
Debunk: Two U.S. Senators Did Not Spend $800K for a One-Night Hotel Stay in Kyiv
By Isis Blachez
What happened: Conservatives are baselessly claiming that Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, spent more than $800,000 on a hotel in Ukraine during their recent trip to Kyiv.
Context: Graham and Blumenthal, both outspoken supporters of Ukraine, met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on May 30, 2025. During their visit, they discussed strengthening Western sanctions against Russia and coordinating peace efforts in the region, according to The Associated Press (NewsGuard Trust Score: 100/100).
A closer look: On June 1, conservative commentators began publishing screenshots from the U.S. government site USASpending.gov showing two expenses for “hotel accommodations” in the amounts of $403,172 and $411,643. The payments were made from the U.S. State Department to the International-Business Center, a Ukrainian organization that helps coordinate hotel accommodations for visiting U.S. officials. Some social media users then attributed all of the spending to Graham’s and Blumenthal’s one-day visit to Kyiv.
On June 3, right-wing commentator Nick Sortor posted a screenshot of USASpending.gov showing the $411,634 transaction and stated, “Lindsey Graham was just PARTYING IN UKRAINE on OUR DIME.” The post garnered 17.8 million views and 15,000 likes in one day.
Five minutes later, X owner Elon Musk reposted Sortor’s post and added: “Why is the hotel bill so high? The room service must be incredible!” Musk’s post received 17.3 million views and 110,000 likes in one day.
Russian-state news outlet RT (Trust Score: 20/100) stated in an X post: “US State Department spent more than $800K on ONE NIGHT of hotel accommodation in Kiev. The same day Senators Lindsey Graham and Dick Blumenthal were in town, coincidentally.” The post accumulated 25,000 views and 620 likes in two days.
Actually: There is no evidence that Graham or Blumenthal spent more than $400,000 each on hotels during their stay in Ukraine.
The screenshots posted in support of the claim show authentic transactions from the State Department to the International-Business Center. However, there is no mention of either senator. Moreover, the contracts have a start date of June 1, 2025, yet Graham and Blumenthal visited Ukraine on May 30, 2025.
USASpending.gov shows that the U.S. has paid the International-Business Center $8.3 million for diplomatic accommodations in Ukraine since 2023.
Responding to the claim in a June 3 X post, Graham called it “false news” and stated: “This isn’t a travel expense report. It’s a monthly contract between the State Department for U.S. diplomats in a war zone – nothing to do with my trip.”
Maria McElwain, Blumenthal’s communications director, told NewsGuard in a June 2025 email, “These ludicrous claims are clearly part of a campaign of misinformation (and falsehoods) that benefits Vladimir Putin.” As for the $815,000 State Department contracts, McElwain said: “This appears to be a retainer for accommodations for any American official on governmental business for the entire month, and certainly not the bill for a single lawmaker.”
Update: This article was updated on June 6, 2025, to include comment from Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s communications director Maria McElwain.
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3. Russian Disinformation Campaign Matryoshka Expands to TikTok
By Eva Maitland
What happened: A prolific Russian disinformation campaign that publishes content imitating credible media outlets and other organizations has expanded its operations to TikTok, the most downloaded app worldwide.