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Facts Matter: Alleged Trump statement on Jan. 6 is fake

A lengthy, official-looking statement, topped with the letterhead "Save America, President Donald J. Trump," was posted on social media earlier this month. The statement appeared to be the former president's comments on the House select committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The statement begins by referring to "this witch hunt led by RINO Liz Cheney and the radical Democrats." The committee, it states, is wasting its time looking for meeting notes about Jan. 6.

"Some people say that I flushed those notes down the toilet, but what I 'may' have flushed down the toilet is long gone since Biden stole The White House from me," the statement reads. "Even though I 'may' have suggested to many people that they needed to storm The Capitol peacefully at a meeting, it doesn't mean they had to do it."

Official as it may appear, this statement didn't come from Trump, according to USA Today. This was an image created using the "Save America" masthead. The statement doesn't appear on any of the former president's social media accounts or his website.

Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington told USA Today the statement is fake.

"It's also going around on Twitter with a lie that I posted it and deleted the tweet," she said. "I don't even use Twitter anymore to post President Trump's real statements."

Kansas cattle died from heat

Health officials said thousands of cattle in Kansas died due to the recent extreme heat. But some social media users didn't see it that way.

"10K dead cattle in Kansas," read a Facebook post. "Cause of death they said. Heat stroke! We know who did it. More meat shortages to come & the price for beef just skyrocketed."

"They did not die of extreme heat. This is not normal," an Instagram user claimed.

"They were KILLED FROM ABOVE!!!" a different Facebook post read. "No one seems to want to say this but ... those 'chem-trails' took out these cattle INTENTIONALLY!!!"

No, it was the heat, and the humidity, according to PolitiFact. There is no evidence the cattle were killed to cause a food shortage. And the existence of chemtrails, airplanes spraying the Earth with chemicals, has been debunked many times.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment said at least 2,000 cattle died due to high temperatures and humidity, Reuters reported.

The animals suffered as the heat and humidity spiked earlier this month, Kansas Livestock spokesperson Scarlett Hagins told Reuters. With temperatures rising so quickly, the cattle couldn't acclimate to the sudden change.

Obama celebrated Black music and Pride in June

A recent Instagram post claims former President Barack Obama made the month of June Pride Month at the expense of a previous designation.

"On June 7th 1979 President (Jimmy) Carter declared the month of June to be Black Music Month," the June 15 social media post read. "For 30 years this has been the case until President Obama during 2009 hijacked Black Music Month and changed it to Pride month."

Wrong on a few counts, according to USA Today.

In 1979, Carter first designated June as Black Music Month. Thirty years later, while still acknowledging the celebration, Obama changed the name of the honor to African American Music Appreciation Month.

As for Pride Month, Obama didn't have to hijack another name to create it, it already existed. Pride Month in June was designated by former President Bill Clinton in 1999.

Photo of 'The Rock' in anti-Trump shirt fake

A photo of actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson wearing a T-shirt with the statement "Keep America Trumpless" has been circulating on social media all year. A recent post of the image on Twitter was shared more than 10,000 times over three days.

But the photo, showing the former professional-wrestler-turned-actor wearing a shirt with the American flag and the statement, is fake, according to The Associated Press. The photo has been digitally altered.

The original photo shows Johnson wearing a shirt that reads, "Los Angeles Fire Department." The image is from a gallery of promotional photos for the 2015 movie "San Andreas." Johnson played a rescue helicopter pilot in the film.

Johnson endorsed President Joe Biden in 2020 and has mused about his own bid for president, the AP said.

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.

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