Not Real News
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week.
ClaimVice President Kamala Harris disrespected the military when she failed to salute the military escorts when boarding Air Force Two on March 19 in Georgia.
The factsAfter Harris wrapped up her trip to Georgia, social media users began sharing a video of her boarding Air Force Two claiming she had failed to salute the troops at the base of the stairs. The video, viewed more than 900,000 times on Twitter, was shared widely by conservative social media accounts in an attempt to paint the vice president as unpatriotic and disrespectful to service members. “DISGRACEFUL:(at)VP Kamala Harris refuses to salute the honor guard at the steps of the aircraft. It is a clear demonstration of her dislike for those in uniform, both law-enforcement and military,” tweeted Bernard Kerik, former New York City police commissioner.While Harris did not salute the troops, she is not required to. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement that there is no instruction or regulation requiring the president or the vice president to return a hand salute to members of the Armed Forces.
Claim“Finally, a judge has ruled Dominion Voting Machines were designed to create fraud.”
The factsNo judge has made such a ruling. In December, a judge handling a Michigan lawsuit allowed the release of a report that contained false claims about a human error in Antrim County and about Dominion Voting Systems election technology, including the unsubstantiated assertion that the company's machines were designed to create fraud. The release of that report, which has since been debunked, did not amount to the judge endorsing its claims.Social media users spreading the false claim based their arguments on a December article, which covered Michigan 13th Circuit Court Judge Kevin Elsenheimer's decision at the time to allow the release of a flawed report contained in a lawsuit seeking to challenge Antrim County's election results. Elsenheimer did not make a ruling supporting the report's contents.
ClaimCNN displayed a banner during coverage of the mass shooting in Boulder, Colo., stating the gunman was “factually Arab, but morally white.”
The factsThe network didn't display such text, according to a CNN representative and a recording of the broadcast. A manipulated screenshot of a CNN broadcast was shared thousands of times on Facebook this week, fooling social media users who did not realize it was initially shared as satire.Emily Kuhn, senior director of communications at CNN Digital Worldwide, confirmed in an email to The Associated Press that the banner was fabricated and didn't match the network's font. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, the 21-year-old suspect in a Boulder supermarket shooting that killed 10 people on Monday, appeared in court Thursday for the first time, and his attorney asked for a health assessment “to address his mental illness.”
ClaimTaco Bell is offering $60 and Walmart is offering $75 to customers who share and comment on their posts.
The factsThese offers are not real and were posted by accounts impersonating Taco Bell and Walmart, but thousands of Facebook users have shared posts with the claims this week. “Taco Bell is going to celebrate its 60th anniversary on March 24th and In order to help our loyal customers, Every single person who has shared & commented before 5PM Wednesday will be sent one of these boxes containing a $60 Taco Bell gift-card plus surprises that will make your heart flutter!” reads a post from a Facebook page impersonating Taco Bell.“To celebrate the great news of Walmart becoming plastic bags free by the end of 2021, we are giving one of these Walmart gift-bags to everyone who has shared & commented before 9pm March 24th. Each person who does this will receive one gift bag full of goodies and a $75 Walmart voucher,” reads a post from a Facebook page posing as Walmart.The posts come from Facebook accounts that at first glance appear to match the name and branding of each company, but actually claim to represent an “unofficial community page.”Representatives from both companies confirmed the posts are not real.
