It's pretty hard to corroborate a story like this. Everyone has to make their own judgment, but I cannot give the benefit of the doubt to the US government. What reason does this guy have to lie? If he was denied entry because of something actually illegal or non legit, why would he risk this exposure to make something up? If he wasn't denied entry and just decided to fly home and make up the lie, why pay for a vacation?
It might not be 100% lies, it might be "based on a true story". The temptation to embellish/frame yourself as the faultless protagonist is instinctive and there are hundreds of examples of people doing it. Narrative shifts are super common in cases where facts are initially sparse and then more come to light... we don't have the whole context.
It's probably impossible to corroborate this story. But that does not mean we can consider it corroborated!
One obvious reason to lie is that the real reason is embarrassing. Maybe he has criminal history, porn/nazi/fentanyl docs, what-have-you. Then when people ask why you was denied, you have to say something.
I'm absolutely not saying that he is lying! Only that we shouldn't blindly trust him.
A reasonable news outlet would call CBP for a comment.
Something like "attempts to reach CBP for comment were unsuccessful." goes a long way. It's a tell that they don't. The story is too good not to print.
CBP does comment on these when asked! The previous one of these that went around even has a Snopes page with paragraphs of comments from DHS officials.
