Video shows John F. Kennedy Jr. in a “real presidential convoy.”
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This isn’t a video of Donald Trump and JFK Jr. in a presidential convoy
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- This video doesn’t show John F. Kennedy Jr., who has been dead since 1999.
A TikTok video drawing attention on Facebook taps into a longtime QAnon conspiracy theory that John F. Kennedy Jr. is still alive and will be on former President Donald Trump’s 2023 presidential ticket.
"Trump & Kennedy," reads text over a video of people getting into cars and leaving the U.S. Senate building. About halfway through the video, the words "real presidential convoy" appear on the screen."
An April 9 Facebook post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
The handle of the TikTok account that shared the video on that social media platform is visible in the Facebook post. Other videos posted to that account support the idea that the Kennedy under consideration here is John F. Kennedy Jr. and not U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who could feasibly be filmed leaving the U.S. Senate building.
Another TikTok video from the account, posted on April 12, shows a photo of John F. Kennedy Jr., son of former President John F. Kennedy, and uses such hashtags as #jfkjrstillalive #jfklives #jfk2024 and #vicepresidentjohnfkennedyjr.
We don’t know precisely what’s happening in the video of the alleged "real presidential convoy," but we do know that Kennedy wasn’t in one with Trump because Kennedy has been dead for nearly 24 years.
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Kennedy, his wife and his sister-in-law were killed in a plane crash on July 16, 1999. Kennedy, then the founder and publisher of George magazine, was piloting a single-engine Piper Saratoga when it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the crash probably happened after Kennedy, who was inexperienced at flying his plane alone at night, became disoriented in haze.
Their bodies were recovered in seas southwest of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, on July 21, 1999, after a recovery team of U.S. Navy divers searched the ocean floor for about 18 hours, the Washington Post reported at the time. Kennedy’s body was found in the cockpit, still strapped to his seat.
His cremated remains were scattered at sea.
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Our Sources
Facebook post, April 9, 2023
The Washington Post, Bodies of Kennedy, Bessettes brought to shore, July 22, 1999
CNN, Remains of JFK Jr., wife and sister-in-law buried at sea, July 22, 1999
The New York Times, Safety board blames pilot error in crash in Kennedy plane, July 7, 2000
The New York Times, Bodies from Kennedy crash are found, July 22, 1999
TikTok post, April 12, 2023
Politico, Trump superfans dream of a run again, and of JFK Jr. on the ticket, Jan. 17, 2022
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This isn’t a video of Donald Trump and JFK Jr. in a presidential convoy
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