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This video does not prove that Hillary Clinton is a reptile
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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is a human, not a reptile.
Old video of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is circulating online, and some social media users are making cold-blooded claims.
A Dec. 16 Instagram reel shows video clips and photos of Clinton that suggest she is not human, but a reptile.
At one point, the video shows side-by-side photos of Clinton with her mouth open and a snake with its mouth open. In Clinton’s photo, there appears to be a dark spot on her tongue, which the video claims is a glottis, a small opening that "allows reptilians to breathe while swallowing large prey."
The Instagram post’s caption reads, "Nothing to see here, just another conspiracy."
(Screengrab from Instagram)
This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
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The video begins with a clip of Clinton drinking water on stage. As she raises a glass to her lips, green globs drop into the water. Text on the video reads, "That’s not regular mucus … "
But a reverse-image search found that this video of Clinton had been edited. During a September 2016 campaign event in Cleveland, Clinton started coughing onstage. She drank water multiple times to clear her throat, but no green mucus came out, as the video claimed.
The photo of Clinton that appears to show a dark spot on her tongue is also edited. This photo is of Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, where she was selected as the Democratic presidential nominee. In the original footage of the event, there’s no dark spot.
Other photos of Clinton in the video were similarly edited to give the impression that she is a reptile. In two photos, Clinton’s eyes were made to look like a snake’s eyes.
This is not the first time such a claim has surfaced. In 2009, Richard Heene, who fabricated a story that his son had floated away in a UFO-shaped balloon, also made false statements about Clinton being reptilian.
Claims that high-profile people are reptilian are unfounded and part of a long-running conspiracy theory. PolitiFact has debunked similar claims about President Joe Biden, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Queen Elizabeth II after her death in 2022.
We rate the claim that video is evidence that Clinton is a reptile Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Instagram reel, Dec. 16, 2023
Reverse-image searches using Google, Dec. 21, 2023
YouTube, "ABC15 Arizona - AWKWARD! Hillary Clinton appears to cough up an entire lung on stage," Sept. 6, 2016
WUNC, "Hillary Clinton Makes History At Democratic National Convention," July 28, 2016
Getty Images, photo of Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, July 27, 2016
NBC News, "Parents convicted in 'balloon boy' hoax pardoned by Colorado governor," Dec. 24, 2020
CBS News, "Balloon Boy Dad Richard Heene Asks if Hillary Clinton is a 'Shape-Shifting' Reptilian on YouTube," Oct. 19, 2009
The Ohio State University, "Behind the Belief: Lizard People | The Psychology of Extraordinary Beliefs," Feb. 12, 2019
PolitiFact, "Reptilian conspiracy theory continues after queen’s death," Sept. 12, 2022
PolitiFact, "No, this video doesn’t prove Biden isn’t human," March 22, 2021
PolitiFact, "No, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla isn’t a reptile," Dec. 1, 2022
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This video does not prove that Hillary Clinton is a reptile
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