Quick Take
A self-described satirical website made up a story about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi being kicked out of an event after a “drunken outburst.” That bogus story since has been posted on other websites without being labeled as satire.
Full Story
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is, yet again, the target of a viral falsehood involving alcohol. A blog post on a self-described satirical website claims that Pelosi was spotted drunk at 10 a.m. while attending a children’s benefit in a public park. The made-up item says Pelosi began “yelling at small children” who “came near her after her third orange juice.”
The piece originated from bustatroll.org, which includes an “about us” page that says it is part of America’s Last Line of Defense’s “network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery” websites. We’ve written many times about content from America’s Last Line of Defense being mistaken for real news.
In this case, at least two other websites published the Pelosi item without labeling it as satire. The sites — The Cube News and Conservative News Update — make no mention of satire on their “about us” pages, either.
Conservative News Update claims it has “a professional team” that provides readers with “the best news and information,” but the bogus Pelosi story carries no byline and includes no named sources.
This is not the first time that Pelosi has been the target of false claims about alcohol, even though Pelosi’s office has told FactCheck.org on two other occasions that she does not drink alcohol: once in 2010, amid accusations of Pelosi spending taxpayer dollars on partying during air travel, and again in May, when two videos were manipulated to make Pelosi’s words sound slurred.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.
Sources
“About Us.” Bustatroll.org. Accessed 26 Nov 2019.
Fichera, Angelo. “Manipulated Video Targeting Pelosi Goes Viral.” FactCheck.org. 24 May 2019.
Hale Spencer, Saranac. “Manipulated Pelosi Video, Take 2.” FactCheck.org. 31 May 2019.
Henig, Jess. “Pelosi’s Party Plane?” FactCheck.org. 4 March 2019.
Eagleton, Flagg. “Nancy Pelosi Asked To Leave Children’s Benefit After Drunken Outburst.” Bustatroll.org. Accessed 26 Nov 2019.