Says Nancy Pelosi said “Americans are the stupidest people on earth.”  

Did the leader of the people’s house really say that Americans are the “stupidest people” on the planet? No.

But that hasn’t stopped stories like this one from claiming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was caught saying that  “while speaking to an aide” at a fundraiser in Illinois. 

The story from the website Conservative Bless says Pelosi was caught in a hot mic moment after finishing a speech full of lavish promises. It falsely says she told an aide the following: 

“I can’t believe they cheered. Were they serious? They were, weren’t they? Un-frickin-believable. Trump proved how dense republican voters are and I guess I just left no doubt that Democrats are the same. Americans are the stupidest people on earth.”

The article, shared nearly a thousand times on Facebook, 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.)

The problem is the entire story was contrived by satire website Busta Troll in late October 2019. 

RELATED STORY: If you’re fooled by fake news, this man probably wrote it

While the article and quote originated on a website that describes its content as satire and contains a disclaimer, it was picked up by Conservative Bless and other sites and shared without any such disclaimer. 

This is not a real news report. We rate it Pants on Fire!