AAP FACTCHECK – A fake video showing US politicians appearing to ask health experts if men can give birth is spreading on social media.
But the clip has been edited using unrelated footage from Senate hearings.
New Zealand anti-vaccination activist and preacher Billy Te Kahika shared the video in a Facebook livestream on October 22.
“This is what’s happening in the United States. This is what’s alive and well in New Zealand…” he says before playing the video, which shows politicians looking confused as they ask if men can deliver babies (44 minutes 35 seconds).
“Of course they can … It’s all fun and games until your son comes home pregnant,” one testifying witness replies.
However, the video has been digitally altered.
Clips of Senator John Kennedy, pediatric endocrinologist Dr Ximena Lopez and Senator Jon Ossoff have been taken from a 2023 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people (1:52:50; 2:05:32; 2:08:30).
The clip of Senator Ossoff could have been taken from a very slightly different-angled video of the hearing, available on his YouTube channel.
Footage of Dr Hannah Maxey, a professor of family medicine who appeared as a witness for the Special Committee on Aging on Supporting Communities of Care in 2023 (1:21:50), is also used.
The clips have been altered in various ways: by changing the appearance of the desks and background; by adding fake names for Dr Lopez and Dr Maxey; by digitally manipulating speakers’ mouths; and by dubbing the audio.
The video appears to have originated on a TikTok account that has posted multiple versions of the scene featuring various different individuals.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked claims made by Billy Te Kahika.
The Verdict
False – The claim is inaccurate.
AAP FactCheck is an accredited member of the International Fact-Checking Network. To keep up with our latest fact checks, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
All information, text and images included on the AAP Websites is for personal use only and may not be re-written, copied, re-sold or re-distributed, framed, linked, shared onto social media or otherwise used whether for compensation of any kind or not, unless you have the prior written permission of AAP. For more information, please refer to our standard terms and conditions.
