Has US president Donald Trump endorsed the election of William Ruto, Kenya’s deputy president and opposition leader?
A screenshot of what seems to be a Trump tweet, shared on Facebook on 11 March 2020, suggests so.
It reads: “Kenya really needs to get over itself with this whole likability BS concept. They should elect a leader who has a record of consistently getting things done. The only person who has such a record is a very humble man by the name William Ruto. No one else.”
It would be unusual for the president of one country to publicly endorse the opposition leader of another. Did Trump really tweet this?
The tweet does not appear on Twitter. It can’t be found in an advanced search of Trump’s account.
The line separating the tweets in the image shared on Facebook also looks thicker and darker than on a normal tweet.
Such a tweet would also have been reported in the local Kenyan press, which was not the case.
Africa Check searched for the preceding and succeeding tweets seen on the image and found both of them. Trump tweeted them on 10 December 2019.
If we compare the president's tweets from 10 December with the image, we can see only the text in the middle tweet was altered. Trump actually tweeted about his impeachment. He has not mentioned Ruto on Twitter. – Dancan Bwire
A screenshot of what seems to be a Trump tweet, shared on Facebook on 11 March 2020, suggests so.
It reads: “Kenya really needs to get over itself with this whole likability BS concept. They should elect a leader who has a record of consistently getting things done. The only person who has such a record is a very humble man by the name William Ruto. No one else.”
It would be unusual for the president of one country to publicly endorse the opposition leader of another. Did Trump really tweet this?
Fake tweet
The tweet does not appear on Twitter. It can’t be found in an advanced search of Trump’s account.
The line separating the tweets in the image shared on Facebook also looks thicker and darker than on a normal tweet.
Such a tweet would also have been reported in the local Kenyan press, which was not the case.
Africa Check searched for the preceding and succeeding tweets seen on the image and found both of them. Trump tweeted them on 10 December 2019.
If we compare the president's tweets from 10 December with the image, we can see only the text in the middle tweet was altered. Trump actually tweeted about his impeachment. He has not mentioned Ruto on Twitter. – Dancan Bwire
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Further Reading
[email protected]: The challenges of working across Africa
Misinformation knows no borders and Africa Check often responds to similar false claims from country to country.
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