GREENSBORO, N.C. — President Donald Trump returns to battleground North Carolina September 9, as a now-viral tweet about his endorsements continues circulating online.
VERIFY QUESTION
Good Morning Show viewer Laramie Lipman wrote, "Hello, Meghann, please VERIFY this for me. A friend posted this, asking for it to be fact checked. Unfortunately, I could not find any reliable sources."
Lipman shared a now-viral tweet (which made the rounds in Hollywood) by a self-described college student named "Billy Bob Sanderz." It lists companies he claims are supporting President Donald Trump's re-election campaign -- Chick-Fil-A, Taco Bell, McDonald's and more.
Sanderz remarked, "If you see me starting to get thinner and toned, don't ask me why."
He is seemingly insinuating he no longer will be eating at those fast food restaurants.
Are the restaurants listed in the tweet supporting President Trump's re-election campaign?
VERIFY SOURCE
VERIFY PROCESS
The Twitter user listed his own sources of information, and the Center for Responsive Politics (which gets its data from the FEC) was one of them. But, he linked the Chick-Fil-A contributions to the 2016 election cycle, not this one. And, it shows contributions to then-candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
At the bottom of the page is a disclaimer in bold text, reading, "The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's PACs -- Political Action Committees -- their individual members or employees or owners and those individuals' immediate families.
McDonald's Center for Responsive Politics page shows similar contributions with more money going to Clinton than Trump in 2016. Meanwhile, on the FEC website, there are no current contributions from the McDonald's PAC or Chick-Fil-A PAC...at least not to Trump in this current campaign cycle.
McDonald's Corporate Political Contribution Policy reads in part:
"Generally, the company does not make contributions to political parties, candidates for public office or political organizations. However, because public policy issues have the potential to impact the company's business, its employees, franchisees and the communities, the company's management believe that in certain cases it may be...in the company's best interests...to make political contributions."
VERIFY CONCLUSION
The tweet claiming all those fast food restaurants support President Trump's re-election campaign is false, as it is misleading. It is true certain PACs and employees within the companies have donated to various candidates.
Do you have a VERIFY inquiry? Submit a post or selfie video to Meghann Mollerus via:
Facebook: Meghann Mollerus News
Twitter: @MeghannMollerus
E-mail: Mmollerus@wfmy.com