schema:text
| - A rumor circulating online in late 2024 claimed law enforcement officials arrested a "MAGA televangelist" after they discovered a methamphetamine lab in the basement of his Mississippi church.
For example, on Dec. 19, an X user posted (archived), "Can't make this stuff up. BREAKING: An extremely MAGA televangelist from Mississippi who claimed that faith in Donald Trump as God's newest prophet was 'more powerful than any drug on Earth' just got arrested for running a meth lab in the basement of his church."
Additional social media users posted the same message word for word on Facebook and X, including the Facebook account Republicans Have Lost Their Minds.
Numerous Facebook users submitted comments indicating they believed the rumor.
Some commenters seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, an online search produced no verified reports about law enforcement officials arresting a televangelist in Mississippi (or any other U.S. state) on suspicion of running a meth lab in a church basement. The story was fictional.
The rumor originated with The Halfway Post — a network of social media accounts and one website that describes its output as satirical in nature.
The Halfway Post posted the claim on Threads and X (archived), the latter of which has attracted over 511,000 views and more than 32,000 likes. One user replied (archived) to the X post, "You can't make this stuff up."
The bio for the Facebook page Republicans Have Lost Their Minds linked to The Halfway Post's website halfwaypost.com, but did not include a "satire" disclaimer.
According to the website's "About" page, the administrator describes its output as "real comedy news and satire."
Snopes has addressed other fictional stories originating from The Halfway Post, including one that claimed a televangelist from Idaho ran off with his congregants' money after convincing them the 2024 total solar eclipse would bring about the rapture.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
|