Claim:
A newspaper article authentically reported that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had to get his stomach pumped after ingesting horse semen.
Rating:
Fake ( About this rating? )
In August 2024, a rumor that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz had to get his stomach pumped after ingesting horse semen on a dare circulated the internet. It appears to have originated on Reddit , posted to the subreddit r/AskALiberal. The account has since deleted the post.
The claim made its way to X, where it also quickly gained traction. One post , which featured an image of what appeared to be a newspaper article about the alleged incident, garnered more than 3.8 million views, as of this writing.
(X account @ImMeme0)
The article began:
"Local Man's Stomach Pumped After 'Neigh-borhood Dare Goes Wrong"
Nebraska Man Hospitalized After Unusual Overingestion Incident
August 30 1995 Westpoint NE
In a bizarre and unprecedented medical emergency, Tim Walz, a local resident of West Point, Nebraska was rushed to West Point General Hospital last night after reportedly overingesting horse semen. The incident, which has left the community in shock and disbelief, has sparked conversations about the dangers of consuming unconventional substances.
Emergency responders were called to Mr. Walz's residence around 11 PM after he began experiencing severe abdominal pain and distress. According to paramedics on the scene, Mr. Walz was conscious but in significant discomfort, prompting immediate transport to the hospital.
We looked into the story and the supposed news clipping, and found that both were entirely fake and the clipping was likely AI-generated.
Although West Point is a real city in Nebraska and is Walz's birthplace, at the time the article was supposedly written, Walz was a high school teacher in Alliance, Nebraska, which is over a five-hour drive from West Point.
Secondly, while a West Point News really exists, West Point Daily News does not. Additionally, we found no record of a West Point General Hospital existing.
Thirdly, the photo used in the story is likely Walz's portrait used during his time as a high school teacher in Nebraska. Contrary to the photo's credit, Reuters has never published the photo.
Lastly, we ran the complete text of the article through multiple AI text-detection apps — including QuillBot, ZeroGPT and GPTZero — which determined that the article is between 86% and 100% AI-generated.
In sum, because the details of the story are not based in fact and the story itself was likely AI-generated, we rate this claim "Fake."
Sources:
Knudsen, Cory. 'A Look Back on Tim Walz's Early Life in Minnesota'. KSTP.Com 5 Eyewitness News , 6 Aug. 2024, https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/a-look-back-on-tim-walzs-early-life-in-minnesota/.
Local News
