A strange claim that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was poisoned has been doing the rounds ever since he got admitted to hospital. Social media has since been abuzz with this and many have been believing the claims that Thomas was poisoned because of some reason.
However, there is no such evidence that Thomas was poisoned and the claim is completely false and baseless. In fact, a statement from the Supreme Court further clarifies the doubts where it states that Thomas was actually diagnosed with some infection for which he got himself admitted to hospital and has now recovered and doing fine.
Strange Claim
The strange claim has its roots in an article published by Real Raw News that appeared on March 26. The article was titled "SCJ Clarence Thomas Poisoned!" Users on social media saw this title, description and thumbnail and fell in the trap.
Without verifying much they bought what was written in the title and started making assumptions. Soon, the claim spread like wildfire and went viral on social media with people starting believing that Thomas was admitted to hospital because he was actually poisoned.
However, no one tried to clarify why and where he was poisoned but further continued to spread the rumor.
In fact, the Supreme Court also cleared this debunking the claim. Thomas was admitted to Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C. after having flu-like symptoms, according to a press release issued by the Supreme Court on March 20, 2022. Doctors identified him with an illness and prescribed antibiotics after a series of tests.
False and Baseless
The claim although false and baseless was not intended to spread misinformation. However, people fell prey to it without judging the authenticity of the claim.
Real Raw News has a lengthy history of fabricating news articles, including numerous involving the trials and executions of various public personalities at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
For example, the site claimed that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hanged (she wasn't); former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta was executed (he wasn't); and former Attorney General William Barr was convicted of treason by "the military" (he wasn't).
Many a times people have fallen prey to their news but they have most of the times never intended to spread fake news.
In fact, Real Raw News' website carries a notice warning readers not to take its news too seriously. It specifically states: "Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel."
However, even then people have time and again fallen into the trap making false claims go viral.
