FACT CHECK: Viral Image Claims These Public Figures Are The Children Of Dictators And Occultists

Dominick Porcella | Contributor

An image shared on Facebook claims Nazi leader Adolf Hitler is the father of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro is the father of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and British occultist Aleister Crowley is the father of former First Lady Barbara Bush.

Verdict:  False

None of the relationships in the post are accurate.

Fact Check:

The viral image attempts to use arrows to ascribe parent-child relationships between various political figures, linking Hitler to Merkel, Castro to Trudeau and Crowley to Bush, despite none of the supposed relations being accurate.

Merkel was born on July 17, 1954, in Hamburg to theologian Horst Kasner and teacher Herlind Kasner, according to Business Insider. Hitler died about nine years before Merkel was born, so it is impossible for him to be her father. He killed himself in April 1945, the Washington Post reported.

The Canadian government in 2018 denied claims that Trudeau is Castro’s son, according to The Associated Press. Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his wife Margaret, was born in December 1971, about nine months after their marriage. Margaret Trudeau did meet Castro, but their first meeting occurred several years after Trudeau’s birth, per The Associated Press.

Bush, the wife of former President George H.W. Bush, was born to Marvin and Pauline Pierce in 1925, according to the White House website. Marvin Pierce was the president of publishing firm McCall Corporation, per The New York Times. (RELATED: Is Bill Gates Related To Ghislaine Maxwell?)

This isn’t the first time social media users have attempted to create false familial connections between public figures. In June 2019, Check Your Fact debunked the claim that Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff and billionaire George Soros are in-laws.

Dominick Porcella

Contributor

Trending