Claim:
A group of "MAGA fans" in Montana announced a hunger strike, vowing the protest would last until "Democrats stop calling Donald Trump and JD Vance 'weird.'"
Rating:
Originated as Satire ( About this rating? )
A rumor is circulating online about a group of "MAGA fans" in Montana supposedly announcing a hunger strike in support of former U.S. President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance.
Users on Facebook , Threads , Truth Social and X shared the rumor in late July 2024. The copied-and-pasted rumor read, "BREAKING: A group of MAGA fans in Montana just announced they're starting a hunger strike they vow will last until Democrats stop calling Donald Trump and JD Vance 'weird.'"
For example, a Facebook page named Republicans Have Lost Their Minds shared the text on July 29.
Some commenters under the posts interpreted the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence of any such hunger strike. The story was fictional.
The rumor about the alleged hunger strike originated with The Halfway Post — a network of social media accounts and a website that describes its output as being satirical in nature. (In its Facebook post, Republicans Have Lost Their Minds published The Halfway Post's website — halfwaypost.com — as an apparent source for its claim but did not include a "satire" disclaimer.)
On The Halfway Post's X account, a post ( archived ) with the rumor received hundreds of thousands of views. Meanwhile, its post on Threads received more than 1,000 likes.
The fictional story spread as Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, made calling their political opponents "weird" a meme-able part of her 2024 presidential campaign. The Associated Press reported Harris and her allies applied the "label with gusto in interviews and online, notably to Vance's comments on abortion and his previous suggestion that political leaders who didn't have biological children 'don't really have a direct stake' in the country."
The Halfway Post
The "About" page on halfwaypost.com states the website's owner publishes " real comedy news and satire."
Snopes has addressed other satirical claims originating from The Halfway Post in the past, including the assertion that Project 2025's offices received used tampons in the mail after Gen Z protesters coordinated a TikTok trend and a rumor that a televangelist from Idaho ran off with his congregants' money after convincing them the 2024 total solar eclipse would bring about the rapture.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.
Sources:
Kinnard, Meg. "Why Harris and Democrats Keep Calling Trump and Vance 'Weird.'" The Associated Press , 30 July 2024, https://apnews.com/article/kamala-harris-trump-vance-weird-c54d506d1f533ee7aa455f7b500322c5 .
Liles, Jordan. "No, JD Vance Did Not Say He Had Sex with Couch Cushions." Snopes , 23 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/jd-vance-couch-cushions/ .
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