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Nancy Pelosi didn’t order anyone to be shot Jan. 6, 2021. You’re seeing a deepfake.
If Your Time is short
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This video of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is manipulated. She did not give a shoot-to-kill order on Jan. 6, 2021.
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The real video shows Pelosi talking on the phone with former Vice President Mike Pence about his safety and how to proceed with electoral counts.
A viral TikTok video falsely claimed to unveil a cover-up from Jan. 6, 2021.
The April 19 post showed former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi talking on the phone on Jan. 6. Pelosi supposedly says: "I’ve given a shoot-to-kill order for any breach of the speaker’s lobby."
The video cuts to a TikTok user who says, "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Alisha Bobbit? Murdered? Somebody might want to look into this." It appears to refer to Ashli Babbit, who was fatally shot while trying to climb through the broken window of a door to the Speaker’s Lobby. Her death has been the subject of many false claims.
The TikTok video also includes text that says "Is this why O’Keefe was fired?" That appears to refer to James O’Keefe, who founded Project Veritas, an organization known for undercover reporting, using hidden cameras and selectively edited recordings. In February, O’Keefe was forced out after allegations that he mistreated staff and mishandled funds.
TikTok identified the video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)
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But this video isn’t evidence of a cover-up — it’s a deepfake, a manipulated video. Pelosi did not order people to be shot Jan. 6.
Other TikTok posts shared longer videos that included the same clip, and those gave the appearance that the deepfake of Pelosi was part of a Project Veritas report.
Featured Fact-check
We searched Project Veritas’ videos and found no evidence that the deepfake was part of their videos.
The real video of Pelosi came from a documentary by her daughter Alexandra Pelosi that first aired Oct. 13, 2022, on CNN. The conversation the elder Pelosi had on the phone in that clip was with former Vice President Mike Pence about his safety and how to reconvene the electoral count for the presidential election.
"We’re being told it could take days to clear the Capitol and that we should be moving everyone here to get the job done … uh, we’re at (redacted) which has facilities for the House and the Senate to meet," Pelosi said, according to a CNN transcript. "We’d rather go to the Capitol and do it there, but it doesn’t seem to be safe."
We rate the claim that this video shows Pelosi giving a shoot-to-kill order on Jan. 6, 2021, Pants on Fire!
Our Sources
TikTok post, April 19, 2023
PolitiFact, Ashli Babbitt vs. antifa? Video falsely claims Babbitt ‘tried to stop antifa false flag’ on Jan. 6, Jan. 21, 2022
PolitiFact, Ashli Babbitt died in fatal U.S. Capitol shooting Jan. 6, 2021; she’s not alive as posts claim, March 9, 2023
PolitiFact, Fact-checking Donald Trump on there being 'no reason' for shooting Ashli Babbitt, July 8, 2021TikTok post, March 12, 2023
NPR, Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe is forced out at the right-wing group, Feb. 21, 2023
CNN, ‘I’m gonna punch him out’: Pelosi fumes over Trump’s Jan. 6 speech, Oct. 14, 2022
Anderson Cooper 360 transcript, Oct. 13, 2022
Browse the Truth-O-Meter
More by Gabrielle Settles
Nancy Pelosi didn’t order anyone to be shot Jan. 6, 2021. You’re seeing a deepfake.
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