A ‘laughably fake’ viral video claiming military pilots ‘walked off the job’ over vaccines gets debunked
The internet is mocking a viral video that been viewed over one million times in which a man claiming the U.S. is "in distress" says "my father told me" that the U.S. Secretary of Defense sent every member of the military a text ordering them to get vaccinated by 10 AM the next day.
12 U.S. Military fighter jet pilots "walked off the job," the man in the video claims, instead of getting vaccinated.
CNN's top fact-checker, Daniel Dale, calls the video "nonsense," and he is being far more kind than many others.
Aside from maybe the man's father telling him a false story, not a word in the video is true.
This viral video is nonsense. It begins with a bonkers claim that the Secretary of Defense sent a text to all active military demanding they get vaccinated by 10 AM the next day. There was no such text. Also, the military's actual vaccination deadlines begin in November.pic.twitter.com/6eNrhFpCJz— Daniel Dale (@Daniel Dale) 1631301718
The website that ran the story is fake:
Here is an actual look at the website where the "US military pilots resign commissions after getting a text demanding they get vaccinated by 10 AM" story originated. pic.twitter.com/sOPFvp9TQS
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 10, 2021
Important tip: Don't rely on internet stories told by a guy who begins his dramatic story by saying "my dad just let me know this."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 10, 2021
One more tweet: the gentleman in this very viral video is a bodybuilder with 4,600 Instagram followers. (Thanks to @JaneLytv for pointing out where the vid came from.) Here's what his Instagram story currently says.pic.twitter.com/iEv6TZw1Bj— Daniel Dale (@Daniel Dale) 1631307785
This is just one of several Twitter accounts sharing the same video. Apparently its author doesn't understand the meaning of the word "apartheid." If it were an actual "vaccine apartheid," only a very few powerful people would have access to the vaccine.
WATCH:\nUS military walk-outs occurred after Biden mandates vaccines for Federal employees & military\n\nFighter jet pilots have walked out:\n\n\u201cWith the F-22s grounded, you can kiss Taiwan goodbye. I would hate to be Taiwanese right now\u201d\n\n#NoVaccineApartheid \n\nhttps://twitter.com/Suzy_1776/status/1436133898954682371/video/1\u00a0\u2026— Maajid \u0623\u0628\u0648 \u0639\u0645\u0651\u0627\u0631 (@Maajid \u0623\u0628\u0648 \u0639\u0645\u0651\u0627\u0631) 1631267999
If any so-called super patriots told you they joined the military to "take a bullet" for America, but would go AWOL to avoid a needle -- they lied to you.— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@BrooklynDad_Defiant!) 1631307665
Btw, unless it\u2019s not clear, pretty evident the story he\u2019s telling is not true.— Chris Hayes (@Chris Hayes) 1631304579
BULLLLLLLLSSSSSSHHHHHIIIIITTTTT.https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1436268205111226372\u00a0\u2026— Fred Wellman (@Fred Wellman) 1631296948
I feel like this dude actually did us a favor because this is easily disproved by asking any single active duty person if they got a text message from the Secretary of Defense last night.https://twitter.com/MaajidNawaz/status/1436268205111226372\u00a0\u2026— Lethality Jane (@Lethality Jane) 1631302608
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