Para leer en español, vea esta traducción de El Tiempo Latino.
Quick Take
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and his husband adopted two infants in 2021. Social media posts use an altered photo to imply Buttigieg is “weird” and that he used a strap-on device developed so men can breastfeed babies. The original photo is from a 2019 article about the device.
Full Story
In an election season that has already included a barrage of accusatory labels and name-calling, both political parties have taken to branding the opposition as “weird.”
The Democrats latched on to the word first. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, whom Vice President Kamala Harris has chosen as her running mate, started referring to former President Donald Trump and other Republicans as “just weird” in July, the Associated Press reported. Walz used the word again at the Aug. 6 rally in Philadelphia, where Harris introduced him as her vice presidential pick. Their Republican opponents are “creepy and yes, just weird as hell,” Walz said.
Trump has responded by denying that he and Sen. JD Vance, his vice presidential running mate, are weird. “They’re the weird ones,” he said of the Democrats.
The “weird” war of words has expanded to a manipulated image on social media.
A July 29 post on X shows an altered photo of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg using a device to simulate breastfeeding a baby. “JD Vance is just weird,” the post reads, with the quote attributed to Buttigieg. (We couldn’t find a report of Buttigieg saying those exact words attributed to him in the posts. In a July 29 interview on MSNBC, however, Buttigieg did say Vance has “said a lot of things that are weird.”)
The post received more than 13,000 views, according to the platform, and the manipulated image has spread to Instagram.
But the original photo used in the posts comes from a Japanese company that makes a wearable, breast-shaped device that allows a man to feed a baby through a tank containing milk or formula. Images of the product provided by the company have appeared in American media, including an article that appeared in 2019 on the website Mother after the company showed its device at the annual SXSW festival in Austin that year. The photo shows an unidentified man using the device.
Buttigieg and his husband, Chasten, adopted two infants, a boy and a girl, in 2021.
But the photo shared in the social media posts was digitally altered to add Buttigieg’s face.
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. Facebook has no control over our editorial content.
Sources
Adobo Magazine. “#SXSW2019: Dentsu’s ‘Pointless Brings Progress’ Exhibits New Experiences and Innovation That Go Beyond Value.” 10 Mar 2019.
Amiri, Farnoush. “How Tim Walz became beloved by young voters with a message that the GOP is ‘weird.'” Associated Press. 6 Aug 2024.
Dentsu. “A desire to create commonplace products led to an innovative device that lets a father nurse and put his baby to sleep.” 1 Jul 2019.
Feher, Erin. “A New Device Lets Dads Breastfeed Their Babies.” Mother. 1 Apr 2019.
Kavi, Aishvarya. “Pete and Chasten Buttigieg Welcome 2 Children to Their Family.” 4 Sep 2021.
Kinnard, Meg. “Why Harris and Democrats keep calling Trump and Vance ‘weird.'” Associated Press. 31 Jul 2024.
Lebowitz, Megan and Vaughn Hillyard. “Trump leans into divisive rhetoric in first rally since assassination attempt.” NBC News. 20 Jul 2024.
MSNBC. “Pete Buttigieg blasts JD Vance’s ‘strange worldview’ and bizarre GOP agenda.” YouTube.com. 29 Jul 2024.
Tasolides, Justin. “‘They’re the weird ones’: Trump attempts to hit back on ‘weird’ attack from Democrats.” Spectrum News NY1. 9 Aug 2024.
Timotija, Filip. “Senate Democrat calls Trump border speech ‘disgusting’ and ‘racist.'” The Hill. 1 Mar 2024.