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Viral image falsely identifies U.S. congressman as El Chapo
"Why is Nancy and Beto with convicted Mexican drug lord El Chapo?"
That’s the grammatically errant query posed in a viral Facebook post featuring a photo of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House Rep. Beto O’Rourke and another man who the post identifies as El Chapo.
The photo, which was published on Jan. 30 and shared more than 12,000 times by Jan. 5, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) And rightfully so — this Texas-based PolitiFact correspondent knows the congressman from the state’s 28th district when she sees him.
The man identified as El Chapo is actually U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar from Texas. Cuellar even posted the same picture to Facebook back when it was taken in 2016.
"Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and I met with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in Los Pinos in Mexico City to discuss U.S.-Mexico trade relations, the Trans-Pacific Partnership and immigration," Cuellar said in the May 3, 2016 post. "Our meeting occurred during a bipartisan congressional delegation visit to Mexico, Peru and Child this week focusing on security, trade, migration and human rights."
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Cuellar credits the photo to El Financiero-Bloomberg Mexico.
Nieto is walking between Cuellar and Pelosi, who issued a statement about the delegation’s meeting with the Mexican president.
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"At Los Pinos, we appreciated the opportunity to visit with President Enrique Peña Nieto and to engage in a productive dialogue on security, the economy, migration and human rights issues," she said.
According to the Rio Grande Guardian, Pelosi, Cuellar and O’Rourke were joined by U.S. Reps. Richard Hanna, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Linda Sanchez, Michael Fitzpatrick, Michelle Lujan-Grisham, Pete Aguilar, Ruben Gallego and Norma Torres.
None of those people are Mexican drug lord El Chapo.
We rate this post Pants on Fire!
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Our Sources
Facebook post, Jan. 30, 2019
Facebook post by U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, May 3, 2016
Nancy Pelosi statement following the conclusion of meetings in Mexico, May 3, 2016
Rio Grande Guardian, "Bipartisan congressional delegation visits Mexico City," May 5, 2016
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Viral image falsely identifies U.S. congressman as El Chapo
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