FACT CHECK: Viral Video Falsely Claims To Show Rishi Sunak Partying
A viral video shared on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, purports to show British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak partying.
Get back to 10 Downing Street Rishi and start doing your job. Ridiculous.
The country is in turmoil and you’re raving. pic.twitter.com/9sk9z2DrFm
— Tam Khan (@Tam_Khan) August 7, 2023
Verdict: False
The video shows a Sunak lookalike, not the British Prime Minister, according to articles from Bol News and Daily Mail.
Fact Check:
Sunak condemned looting and disruption organized via social media as “appalling” and “unacceptable” following an Aug. 9 incident on London’s Oxford Street, according to BBC News. The Metropolitan Police arrested nine people as a result of the incident, The Independent reported.
“Get back to 10 Downing Street Rishi and start doing your job. Ridiculous. The country is in turmoil and you’re raving,” the X video, viewed over one million times, purports. The video shows a shirtless man who resembles Sunak dancing while holding an orange cup in his hand.
The claim is false, as the video shows a Sunak lookalike, not the British Prime Minister. A reverse image search generates an October 2022 article from Bol News indicating the man in the video is a Sunak “doppelganger.” Likewise, the British news outlet Daily Mail also reported the man in the video was a Sunak lookalike in January 2022. Both outlets nicknamed the lookalike “Raving Rishi,” noting that the man had been partying at entrepreneur Wayne Lineker’s O Beach club on the Spanish island of Ibiza.
In addition, Lineker has shared the video of the Sunak lookalike to his verified Instagram account on two separate instances, in July 2019 and July 2022.
View this post on Instagram
Based on Lineker’s posts then, the video dates back to 2019 at the earliest. The date is significant because Sunak did not become the British Prime Minister until October 2022, according to Reuters. (RELATED: Did British MP Share His Love For Entertainer And Known Sex Offender Rolf Harris?)
Furthermore, Sunak is a lifelong teetotaler, or someone who does not drink alcohol, the U.S. Sun reported.
Check Your Fact has contacted Sunak and Lineker for comment and will update this piece accordingly if one is received.
