Photo of man kissing child is ‘absolutely not’ senator, office says

Conspiracy theories that powerful people across the world are part of a sinister cabal that trafficks children thrive online, and the latest purported evidence in these unfounded ideas is an image of a man kissing a child.

In social media posts, the man is identified as Chuck Schumer, the minority leader of the U.S. Senate. The posts claim Schumer was pictured on the private island of the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. (Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges before killing himself in custody.)

"Chuck Schumer kissing this child on Epstein island," reads the description of the image, which shows a white shirtless man in glasses kissing a young Black girl in a swimsuit. "The VEIL has lifted!"

The post 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.) 

A spokesperson for Schumer told us it is "absolutely not" the Democratic senator from New York.

We don’t know what’s happening in this photo, or when and where it was taken. 

But it’s been online for months. Only now are people suggesting that it shows Schumer in a compromising situation. 

We found it posted five months ago on Picuki, a site that lets you browse Instagram photos. The post also features a French translation of a Jan. 17 article about Gambian children "being sold to British pedeophiles."  

The photo in question does not appear with the story. 

Featured Fact-check

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stated on October 20, 2024 in a Threads post

Former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social and addressed claims of his “incontinence,” saying, “I don’t poop myself.”

On Jan. 21, though, a tweet from an account that describes itself as a "Civil Rights & Pan African organization to unite all people of African descent worldwide" shared the image and said: "One of the British pedophile abusing children in Gambia."

On the same day, a Facebook account called Focus On Gambia also posted the image, writing that "the government of Gambia must take legal action against pedophiles in Gambia." (In the comments of this post, some users question whether the photo was actually taken in Gambia.)

Epstein donated more than $184,000 to both Democratic and Republican politicians from 1990 until his death, including Schumer, who has since donated the money to anti-human trafficking charities. 

But we unearthed nothing to support that the image recirculating on social media shows Schumer or that the photo was taken on Epstein’s island. 

We rate this post False.