WASHINGTON: A fabricated post on X, falsely attributed to Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz, claims that Hurricane Milton “was artificially created by Russian scientists.”
However, the fake screenshot does not correspond with Walz’s genuine X account, and there is no evidence that the Minnesota governor made such a statement online. A representative for the Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign confirmed to Reuters, “Walz didn’t post that.”
Hurricane Milton impacted Florida on October 9, causing tornadoes and leaving millions without power. The storm has also fueled misleading narratives about government control over weather for political purposes.
The false post, dated October 10, circulated on X and Facebook on October 14 and 15, featuring an image of Walz, his real X handle, and the claim: “I have received indisputable proof that Hurricane Milton was artificially created by Russian scientists. They have managed to change gravitational field of earth using the advanced technologies we know they possess.”
An earlier version of the fake screenshot appeared in a Russian-language post on October 12. Searches of Walz’s official X account, @Tim_Walz, yielded no results supporting the claim, and there are no credible media reports indicating he made such a statement. Reuters has previously debunked false narratives in both English and Spanish suggesting that Milton was a product of weather manipulation or linked to the University of Alaska’s High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP).
VERDICT
No evidence. There is no proof that vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz posted on X, formerly known as twitter, that Hurricane Milton “was artificially created by Russian scientists,” as claimed in the fabricated screenshot.
