On Oct. 14, a spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton tweeted that Clinton had been admitted to the hospital two days earlier to get treatment for an infection unrelated to COVID-19. 

“He is on the mend, in good spirits, and is incredibly thankful to the doctors, nurses and staff providing him excellent care,” spokesperson Angel Ureña said in the statement. 

That may have come as a shock to people who believed a recent fake news headline that said Clinton was already dead. 

“Bill Clinton death ruled a homicide, death by poison,” a screenshot of the Sept. 30 headline said. 

An Oct. 14 Instagram post sharing that message 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 headline appeared on the website Real Raw News, which has published many falsehoods that PolitiFact has checked. In September, we investigated Real Raw News and found the man behind the site previously ran at least three other websites and associated YouTube channels that promoted conspiracy theories. 

Though the website features a caveat that it says it contains “humor, parody and satire,” its stories are often shared without context and its author has defended the posts as the truth. 

As for the claim that Clinton, 75, is dead — or was killed by poison and discovered lying on a cell floor in Guantanamo Bay, as the Real Raw News narrative goes — it’s not true. It is unfounded and fabricated. 

Later in the day on Oct. 14, Clinton’s spokesperson tweeted a statement from Clinton’s doctors explaining his treatment at UC Irvine Medical Center. 

“We hope to have him go home soon,” it concluded. 

We rate this post Pants on Fire.