A German survey ranked Kyrie Irving as the “greatest threat to world peace” among world leaders.
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Kyrie Irving was not part of 2019 survey about ‘greatest threat to world peace’
If Your Time is short
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The image purporting to show the results was manipulated.
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The survey and "Fox & Friends" segment was from December 2019.
The most pressing threats to world peace, according to a German survey, include four dictatorial leaders and an All-Star guard for the National Basketball Association’s Brooklyn Nets — at least that's what widely shared social media posts are claiming.
But one of the men listed is not like the others.
A graphic of a "Fox & Friends" segment shared on Instagram purports to show the results of a YouGov survey that asked about the "greatest threat to world peace." According to this graphic (spoiler alert, it’s manipulated), Irving received 41% of the vote, followed by North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (17%), Iran leader Ali Khamenei (8%), Russian President Vladimir Putin (8%), and Chinese President Xi Jinping (7%).
"If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize," the caption of the Instagram post reads.
Irving has drawn widespread scrutiny for sharing an antisemetic film on his social media account last month. The Nets suspended him indefinitely. Irving courted controversy before the suspension, missing 35 home games during the 2021-22 season after refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19, despite a New York City mandate requiring workers to be vaccinated.
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Irving returned to playing in Nets home games this past March, when New York Mayor Eric Adams lifted the city’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate. An epidemiologist and health adviser to former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio dubbed Adams’ move the "Kyrie Carve-Out."
The post was flagged as part of Instagram’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
Featured Fact-check
The screenshot is from a December 2019 "Fox & Friends" segment discussing real survey results. But former President Donald Trump, and not Irving, was the top vote-getter. The graphic was altered so that Irving’s forward-facing photo appeared on top of Trump’s.
According to German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle, more than 2,000 Germans participated in the survey, which was commissioned by the news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur in December 2019. Participants in the survey said Trump was the "greatest threat to world peace," with 41% of the vote.
The image was manipulated to deceive audiences. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
Instagram post, (archived) Nov. 5, 2022
The New York Times, "Nets Suspend Kyrie Irving Indefinitely After Antisemitic Movie Post," Nov. 3, 2022
Newsweek, "Donald Trump Is 'Greatest Threat to World Peace,' Ahead of Putin and Kim Jong Un, Germans Say in New Poll," Dec. 26, 2019
The Guardian, "Kyrie Irving: NBA hero’s suspension marks spectacular fall from grace | Brooklyn Nets | Nov. 5, 2022
Deutsche Welle, "Germans fear Trump more than Kim and Putin," Dec. 26, 2019
Tweet, Dec. 26, 2019
The New York Times, ‘Kyrie Carve Out’ in vaccine mandate frees Irving to play in New York," March 23, 2022
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Kyrie Irving was not part of 2019 survey about ‘greatest threat to world peace’
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