No, Newsom wasn’t sentenced to die (2024)

The live-stream of Donald Trump’s Arizona rally from Right Side Broadcasting, a right-wing website known for streaming Trump’s events, took a conspiratorial turn when one attendee insisted that California Gov. Gavin Newsom had been executed and replaced with a clone.

"Newsom’s a clone, OK? They just took him out," the rally goer told RSBN’s Brian Glenn before the Jan. 15 event in Florence, Arizona. "The real Governor Newsom has had his military tribunal at Gitmo. He’s been executed. OK?"

The claim appeared to be a reference to recent articles on Real Raw News, a misinformation website that regularly publishes made-up stories alleging that various public figures have been arrested by the military, transported to Guantanamo Bay, tried and executed. Similar narratives have taken hold in the past among some supporters and promoters of the QAnon conspiracy theory.

The website’s lead story from Jan. 3: "Gavin Newsom Gets Death Penalty."

This nonsense storyline — arrested by military, executed at Gitmo and replaced by the deep state with a clone — is a regular narrative on the conspiracy theory website Real Raw News. The site has spun the same misinformation about Newsom in recent months. https://t.co/0cxHti9Gkv https://t.co/9AhjTthWuo

— Bill McCarthy (@billdmccarthy) January 16, 2022

The headline, which followed months of similar posts spinning a wildly fictitious narrative about the Democratic California governor, was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

In the alternative universe of Real Raw News, Newsom was indicted by the military in July; arrested, sent into a COVID-19 vaccine-induced coma, shipped off to Guantanamo Bay, and replaced by the "deep state" with a doppelganger in November; tried before a military tribunal in December; and sentenced to death for treason and child sex crimes in early January.

PolitiFact rated the claim that the military arrested Newsom Pants on Fire, and none of the related stories on Real Raw News are true.

Featured Fact-check

Threads posts

stated on June 16, 2024 in a Threads post

"Apple is … about to start charging us to use the FaceTime feature.”

Erin Mellon, a spokesperson for Newsom, confirmed that her boss was still alive and working in California, not in jail. "There is absolutely no truth in this whatsoever," Mellon said.

In recent weeks, Newsom held an hours-long press conference about his proposal for the state’s budget, visited an encampment of homeless people, and hosted several other events.

On Jan. 18, three days after the Trump rally goer relayed the baseless execution claim in his interview with Right Side Broadcasting, Newsom participated in an announcement related to a plan for investing in California students’ higher education.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom helps clean an encampment for homeless people on Jan. 12, 2022, in San Diego. (AP)

A PolitiFact investigation in September found that Real Raw News is authored by a 53-year-old man, Michael Tuffin, who previously ran several other websites and associated YouTube channels that also promoted far-fetched conspiracy theories. His websites publish information under the pseudonym "Michael Baxter."

The website’s "About Us" page features a disclaimer saying it contains humor, parody and satire, but the author of the articles often insists in the site’s comment sections that the content is legitimate, and the Right Side Broadcastinginterview indicates that some people believe the type of content he pushes.

The website’s latest claims about Newsom have no basis in reality.

We rate them Pants on Fire!

• 

  

  Threads posts

  stated on July 14, 2024 in Threads posts:

  Photo shows Secret Service agents smiling while escorting Donald Trump offstage after assassination attempt.

  

  

• 

  

  X posts

  stated on July 13, 2024 in una publicación en X:

  Donald Trump escenificó el tiroteo en su mitin en Butler, Pensilvania.

  

  

• 

  

  Social Media

  stated on July 14, 2024 in una publicación en redes sociales:

  Estas imágenes muestran a Thomas Matthew Crooks, el sospechoso del tiroteo en el mitin de Donald Trump.

  

  

• 

  

  Social Media

  stated on July 14, 2024 in a July 14, 2024, post:

  A photo from viral social media posts shows Trump rally shooting suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks.

  

  

• 

  

  Social Media

  stated on July 13, 2024 in social media posts:

  Donald Trump staged the shooting at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

  

  

• 

  

  Instagram posts

  stated on July 13, 2024 in una publicación en Instagram:

  “El que disparo Donald Trump, Mark Violets ha sido asesinado.”

  

  

• 

  

  Facebook posts

  stated on July 13, 2024 in a Facebook post:

  “Butler Police confirm the shooter’s name is Mark Violets. He is a known Antifa extremist.”

  

  

• 

  

  Threads posts

  stated on July 13, 2024 in a Threads post:

  “Trump rally shooter has been identified as 32-year-old California resident, Hank Pecker.”

  

  

• 

  

  Joe Biden

  stated on May 16, 2024 in News release:

  "The Trump administration handed out taxpayer dollars to a foreign company. Hundreds of homes and farms were bulldozed, and over $500 million in taxpayer dollars were wasted preparing for Foxconn."

  

  

• 

  

  Threads posts

  stated on July 7, 2024 in a Threads post:

  "Project 2025 eliminates OSHA and overtime wages.”