On April 11, 2023, a video began to spread on social media platforms that claimed 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, had endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, for president.
"You can tell a lot about a candidate by what opposition party leaders say about them…," Twitter account @Ramble_Rants posted. Attached was a video that claimed to show Clinton saying that she liked DeSantis to MSNBC:
You know, people might be surprised to hear me say this. But I actually like Ron DeSantis a lot. I know. I'd say he's just the kind of guy this country needs, and I mean that.
If Ron DeSantis got installed as president, I'd be fine with that. I mean, the one thing I'd say about Ron is that when push comes to shove, Ron does what he's told. And I can't think of anything more important than that. Hail Hydra.
According to Know Your Meme, "Hail Hydra" is the catchphrase of a fictional terrorist organization in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Besides spreading on Twitter, the video has also been posted on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram.
In replies to the Twitter post, @Ramble_Rants said the video had been faked with the help of another user, @C3PMeme. That account's website also contained fake videos of U.S. President Joe Biden, among other public figures, as well as other fake MSNBC footage.
Besides the account admitting it was a fake video, there were additional signs the video wasn't real. The fake video's identifier said "Rumble Rants" (the handle of the account that posted the video) under the MSNBC logo. At the time of publication, MSNBC had no programming related to that name.
The original, unmanipulated video was from a TODAY show appearance that was excerpted on MSNBC in December 2021. In place of the fake video's "Rumble Rants" logo are the words "morning joe," which is the name of the show that ran the TODAY show excerpts. She did not discuss DeSantis during the interview, instead discussing the Democratic Party and the future of U.S. democracy.
