Conspiracy Theory Baselessly Claims Biden Had Navy SEALs Killed
A viral conspiracy theory spread across social media baselessly claims former Vice President Joe Biden “had SEAL Team 6 killed” as part of a cover-up after a purportedly failed assassination of Osama bin Laden. President Donald Trump shared the unfounded theory on Twitter.
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A baseless conspiracy theory peddled at a recent conservative political conference migrated to social media, spreading the outrageous claim that former Vice President Joe Biden allowed the killing of Navy SEALs as part of a massive scandal.
The unfounded theory has traveled across platforms, getting assistance on Twitter from President Donald Trump.
“Hiden Biden and Obama may have had SEAL Team 6 killed! EXPLOSIVE: CIA Whistleblower Exposes Biden’s Alleged Role with the Deaths of SEAL Team- Claims to have Documented Proof. RETWEET!!!” read a tweet amplified by the president.
The tweet linked to a story on a conservative commentary site about a supposed “whistleblower” who claims that former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was not actually killed in May 2011, and that the Obama administration had to pay Iran billions of dollars — and kill off Navy SEALs — as part of a cover-up. The underlying theory to this false narrative of a botched bin Laden raid intertwines several real events: an attack on U.S. military members in 2011, the Benghazi terrorist attacks in 2012 and the Iran nuclear agreement in 2015.
Trump’s retweet itself became a part of the narrative for online conspiracy theorists, who viewed it as confirmatory. One popular post relayed that Trump “confirms” the “intel” that Biden “directly participated in a plot to have #SEALTeam6 MURDERED, then arranged a massive cash deal as part of a cover up.” Another said, “Trump KNOWS.”
In reality, neither Trump nor his administration has publicly offered any evidence supporting the wild tale behind the viral posts.
We reached out to Trump’s reelection campaign to ask what evidence there is to support such a theory, and we were referred to the White House for comment. The White House did not answer our inquiry.
The conspiracy theory was first aired during an American Priority conference, “AMP Fest,” held at Trump National Doral in Florida on Oct. 8-11, during a presentation by Nick Noe, a Trump supporter and Air Force veteran, and Charles Woods, the father of a former Navy SEAL killed in the Benghazi attacks.
The presentation featured a video of Noe and Woods with Alan Harrow Parrot. Parrot has described himself as a falconer who has worked in the Middle East; he has previously claimed he tried to convey the whereabouts of bin Laden to the Bush administration.
The claims made at AMP Fest were then pushed on social media by Anna Khait, a real estate agent and former “Survivor” contestant who has written for the conservative website the Epoch Times. In a viral YouTube video whose description hawks doomsday preparation supplies, she suggests that the U.S. should “hang them” when referring to former Obama administration officials she accuses of “treason.” The video has been viewed nearly 3 million times.