Fact check: Hillary Clinton was not hanged at Guantanamo Bay
The claim: Hillary Clinton was hanged at Guantanamo Bay
Supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory are banned from mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, but their baseless claims continue to get traction.
In March, USA TODAY debunked an article that claimed Navy SEALs loyal to former President Donald Trump arrested former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for treason. The claim was fictional, but an “update” on Clinton’s purported arrest is now circulating on TikTok and Instagram.
The video, which has more than 29,000 views on TikTok, shows an April 26 article from Real Raw News, a website that has previously published false claims related to QAnon. The article says Clinton was hanged for crimes like murder and child trafficking.
“Scrambled eggs with jalapeno peppers, and a strawberry milkshake. The last meal of the condemned,” the article says.
Fact check:Hillary Clinton was not arrested by Navy SEALs acting on Trump’s order
None of these claims are true.
USA TODAY reached out to Real Raw News and several pages that posted the video for comment.
Clinton still alive, not imprisoned
There is no evidence to support the events detailed in Real Raw News’ article.
The series from Real Raw News on Clinton’s “arrest” relies heavily on the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, which gained an online following in 2017. The theory asserts the existence of a global cabal of Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic child sex traffickers whose members are part of the United States government, media and Hollywood.
Clinton is a key part of the conspiracy theory. QAnon supporters say Trump’s election was part of an elaborate scheme to prosecute purported pedophiles like Clinton, as well as celebrities like Tom Hanks and Oprah Winfrey.
QAnon’s claims are not based in fact, and many of the conspiracy theory’s predictions proved wrong. Real Raw News’ article provides no source, nor any public records of a trial, arrest or execution. No credible media organization has reported that Clinton died or was arrested.
As PolitiFact reported, Clinton is alive and was active during the period detailed by Real Raw News.
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She participated in a live chat with The Washington Post on March 8, and she is scheduled to appear at a June 24 speaking event hosted by The New York Times. A photo posted June 11 on Twitter shows Clinton with Lin-Manuel Miranda in New York City for a screening of his new movie “In the Heights,” which was released June 9.
Our rating: False
The claim that Clinton was hanged at Guantanamo Bay is FALSE, based on our research. There is no evidence to support the claim, which is related to the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory. Clinton is alive and has been active over the past few months.
Our fact-check sources:
- USA TODAY, March 8, Fact check: Hillary Clinton was not arrested by Navy SEALs acting on Trump’s order
- Real Raw News, April 26, Hillary Clinton Hanged at GITMO (archived)
- Real Raw News, March 4, Navy SEALs Arrest Hillary Clinton (archived)
- USA TODAY, Feb. 4, What is QAnon? What to know about the baseless, far-right conspiracy theory connected to Marjorie Taylor Greene
- PolitiFact, April 28, No, Hillary Clinton wasn’t hanged at Guantanamo Bay
- Hillary Clinton, June 11, tweet
- FiveThirtyEight, March 26, QAnon Has Become The Cult That Cries Wolf
- NPR, Jan. 31, Unwelcome On Facebook And Twitter, QAnon Followers Flock To Fringe Sites
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Our fact check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from USA TODAY can be found here ***
