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A publish circulating on social media falsely promises actor Denzel Washington mentioned he’s “had it” with the Democratic Party’s “lies” and now supports previous President Donald Trump. The fictitious estimate attributed to Washington originated on a self-described satirical website. A consultant for Washington verified “this post is a entire fabrication.”
Complete Story
Actor Denzel Washington has regularly been the target of bogus stories about his political sights.
As we reported in 2018, a fabricated post incorrectly attributed a string of estimates important of previous President Barack Obama to the actor — even although Washington supported Obama and mentioned Obama did a “great job” as president. Phony statements about Washington praising former President Donald Trump also ended up broadly shared on the net in 2016.
A lot more a short while ago, a social media publish falsely claims that Washington still left the Democratic Occasion to help Trump and his allies. One model of the post, uploaded to Instagram on June 23, has amassed additional than 1,000 likes.
The article appears to be a screenshot of a satirical write-up titled, “Denzel Washington Leaves Democrat Bash: ‘I’ve Experienced it With the Lies.’” The write-up proceeds: “Denzel Washington, who has in no way stepped outside the house the realm of performing to engage in politics, has taken a stand. It won’t be incredibly well known with Democrats. In an Job interview with America’s Very last Line of Defense, Denzel claimed that he could not handle the constant lies and that he’s turning his awareness to serving to crew Trump:”
The designed-up posting to start with appeared in 2019 on bustatroll.org, a web page that describes its content as satire meant to provoke conservatives. It is just one of numerous this kind of sites operated by America’s Previous Line of Defense, which is cited in the write-up as the source of Washington’s quotation.
The “About Us” web page for bustatroll.org supplies quite a few disclaimers pertaining to the outlet’s articles, together with, “Everything on this web site is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not bogus information since it is not serious.”
The web page phone calls itself a “subsidiary of the ‘America’s Previous Line of Defense’ community of parody, satire, and tomfoolery.” We formerly wrote about America’s Very last Line of Defense in our list of internet websites that write-up deceptive content.
In response to the post, Alan Nierob, a agent for Washington, advised us by way of e-mail: “Without confirming his political affiliation, this submit is a complete fabrication.”
While Nierob did not remark on the actor’s political affiliation, a research of Washington’s political donation historical past exhibits multiple earlier contributions to Democrats. The actor donated $28,500 to assistance elect Obama and gave $27,000 in support of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Editor’s take note: FactCheck.org is 1 of several businesses doing work with Fb to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our preceding tales can be uncovered in this article.
Sources
Hale Spencer, Saranac. “Pretend Denzel Washington Story.” FactCheck.org. 19 Jan 2018.
Shaw, A.R. “Denzel Washington talks the legacy of President Barack Obama.” YouTube. 8 Dec 2016.
“Denzel Washington strike by Fb phony news story on Trump.” BBC. 15 Nov 2016.
Nierob, Alan. Consultant for Denzel Washington. E-mail to FactCheck.org. 24 Jun 2021.
Eagleton-Patriot, Flagg. “Denzel Washington Leaves Democrat Bash: ‘I’ve Had it With the Lies’.” Bustatroll.org. Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
“About Us” webpage. Bustatroll.org. Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
“Misinformation Listing.” FactCheck.org. Up to date 12 Nov 2018.
Center for Responsible Politics. “Donor Lookup.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
Federal Election Fee. Website page by Website page Report Exhibit (Web site 12328 of 13200). Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
Federal Election Fee. Web site by Site Report Screen (Web page 50507 of 73025). Accessed 25 Jun 2021.