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Political adviser John Podesta was named after his father (who is not Laurance Rockefeller)
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- John Podesta is not Laurance Rockefeller’s son.
John Podesta, an adviser to President Joe Biden, and Laurance Rockefeller, the late businessman and philanthropist, often feature in unfounded conspiracy theories. A new one claims that they are father and son.
"This is Lawrence Rockefeller, his son is John Podesta," begins a July 10 Instagram post that misspells Rockefeller’s first name before going on to explore debunked misinformation about celebrities killed while they were working on a documentary about pedophilia.
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.)
Featured Fact-check
Rockefeller, the grandson of business magnate John D. Rockefeller, had three daughters and a son, whose name is Larry Rockefeller — not John Podesta.
Podesta, meanwhile, is the son and namesake of John Podesta Sr.
We rate this claim Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Instagram post, July 10, 2023
The New York Times, Laurance S. Rockefeller, passionate conservationist and investor, is dead at 94, July 12, 2004
NBC News, Laurance Rockefeller,philanthropist, dead at 94, July 11, 2004
PolitiFact, No, Rod Rosenstein and John Podesta are not the sons of high-profile Nazis, Dec. 1, 2022
Illinois General Assembly, SR0118
Chicago, How the Podesta brothers rose from the 39th Ward to the White House, Dec. 19, 2013
PBS, John Podesta extended interview, Oct. 8, 2004
PolitiFact, No, Anthony Bourdain and other celebrities weren’t killed while working on a film about pedophilia, July 11, 2022
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Political adviser John Podesta was named after his father (who is not Laurance Rockefeller)
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