No, Greta Thunberg isn’t protesting Trump with a hunger strike

The headline of a story on a web page titled "Washington News Press" claims that Greta Thunberg, the 17-year-old climate activist from Sweden, has decided to go on a hunger strike until President Donald Trump is removed from office. 

If the premise of that story doesn’t seem suspect, perhaps this quote, attributed to Thunberg, will help you reconsider: "This is what Ghandi (sic) did. I saw the movie. The balance of a human life will outweigh the ignorance and douchebaggery of Trump. I will subsist for as long as I need on the elements of the air and the nutrients of the spirits that flow from mother nature through the wind. My will to heal this world is strong."

This 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.) 

That’s because the supposed news story originated on bustatroll.org, a self-described satirical website. It was published on Dec. 19, 2019, with the labels "impeachment satire" and "warm fuzzy fan fiction."

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“Nancy Pelosi stated today that if the Democrats get the House the first thing they’re going to do is impeach Donald Trump before he gets elected.”

The poached story that appears on "Washington News Press" has no such caveats, and as it gets shared widely on Facebook, users are missing that context. 

Thunberg has not announced a hunger strike in protest of Trump.

We rate this post False.