ISIS Calls for Support of Hillary Clinton-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
An ISIS leader has called for Muslim voters in the U.S. to support Hillary Clinton.
The Truth:
A fake news website is behind false reports that an ISIS leader has urged Muslims in the U.S. to vote for Hillary Clinton.
The story, which was published by World News Daily Report, reported that a YouTube video that was taken down hours after it was uploaded showed ISIS leader Amadh Abu Makmud Al-alwani calling those who vote for Donald Trump “infidels.” The report continued:
He also claimed that even if Hillary was a woman and a “two face devil”, had the “charm of a pig” and was “treacherous as the snake”, that the Democratic presidential hopeful was at least in league with the “allied countries of the Islamic state” such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Al-alwani also warned all Muslims not to take his warnings lightly and that supporters of Trump would be severely punished on earth and in Jannah (afterlife).
“Trump is a dog, he is the scum of the earth. He boasts that he will take our oil and join Russia, Syria and the Shia Iranians against us in our holy fight” he added, visibly angry.
The false report was shared nearly 300,000 times on social media. And, while World News Daily Report is a well-known fake news website, these types of reports have been known to cause widespread confusion when taken out of context on social media.
ISIS leaders have not formerly backed either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, as far as we can tell. However, Foreign Affairs magazine review of ISIS social media channels in August found that the terrorist group’s support was leaning toward Trump:
One might expect ISIS to view his candidacy with apprehension. However, interviews with ISIS supporters and recent defectors suggest just the opposite: jihadists are rooting for a Trump presidency because they believe that he will lead the United States on a path to self-destruction. Last week, an ISIS spokesman wrote on the ISIS-affiliated Telegram channel, Nashir, “I ask Allah to deliver America to Trump.” Meanwhile, an ISIS supporter posted on one of the numerous jihadist “channels” hosted by the Telegram messaging application, “The ‘facilitation’ of Trump’s arrival in the White House must be a priority for jihadists at any cost!!!”
Analysis of ISIS chatter on social media and conversations with 12 current and former supporters of the group do indicate that ISIS strongly prefers Trump over the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton. When asked to explain their preference for Trump, interviewees offered several reasons. First, Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric plays into ISIS’ narrative of a bipolar world in which the West is at war with Islam. Second, ISIS hopes that Trump will radicalize Muslims in the United States and Europe and inspire them to commit lone-wolf attacks in their home countries. Third, ISIS supporters believe that Trump would be an unstable and irrational leader whose impulsive decision-making would weaken the United States. And fourth, ISIS subscribes to the prophecy of a “Final Battle,” to take place
Of course, the Foreign Affairs conclusion is based on anecdotal evidence collected from a dozen or so former and current ISIS members. Whether or not ISIS leaders have a preference as to who gets elected in the 2016 election isn’t clear.
We can say with certainty, however, that the World News Daily Report claiming that ISIS has urged American Muslims to vote for Clinton is fiction.