“I will personally support the Deputy president of Kenya @WilliamsRuto in the next years election,” reads a screengrab of what seems to be a tweet by former US president Donald Trump.
The tweet shows the @readDonaldTrump handle and Twitter’s blue verification tick, meant to indicate that an account of a prominent person is genuine. It’s dated 23 July 2021.
The screengrab also shows an apparent reply from William Ruto, Kenya’s deputy president: “Am so glad the whole world can see how we are transforming our great nation with wheelbarrows.” It was posted on a public Facebook group page with more than a million followers.
Kenya is set to hold its next general election on 9 August 2022. In his campaign for the presidency, Ruto has often donated wheelbarrows, claiming it’s a way to create self-employment for young people.
But did Trump really tweet this? We checked.
Signs of a fake tweet
Some elements on the screenshot show that the tweet is not authentic. The label for the device used to post the tweet incorrectly uses a capital I to spell iPhone.
The time on the screengrab does not specify if it was posted before or after midnight the way genuine tweets do.
And such a tweet by Trump would have been reported by Kenya’s media. It hasn’t been. More than this, the tweet can’t be found on Twitter.
Permanently suspended
Trump’s Twitter account @realDonaldTrump was permanently suspended on 8 January 2021 for “violation of the glorification of violence policy”.
A search of Ruto’s verified Twitter account @WilliamsRuto reveals that no such reply to the account @realDonaldTrump was posted on 23 July 2021.
Trump does not have access to his Twitter account. The tweet is fake.
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
Add new comment