Amid the 2024 Republican National Convention, social media was abuzz with claims that an executive of Grindr, a gay dating app, dubbed the event Grindr’s Super Bowl.
“BREAKING: An executive of the gay dating app Grindr says the Republican National Convention is ‘basically Grindr’s Super Bowl,'” a July 15 X post read.
The post garnered over 50 million views, and some social media users responded to it as if it were real news. But the post was made by an account called The Halfway Post, which describes its content as “Halfway true comedy and satire.”
Some people resharing the post responded as if it truly were “breaking” news.
“Was wondering when this would come up, it’s a known thing,” one user commented. “Pray they’ve leased extra server bandwidth for the Milwaukee area.”
Another user reposted The Halfway Post’s claim, writing “Everyone knows that the RNC is ‘second pride.’”
The claim was also shared by former Republican Rep. George Santos, who represented New York’s third district for a year until he was expelled from Congress amid scandal. ”So, Grindr executives are calling the RNC the ‘Grindr Super Bowl,’” Santos said in a July 17 video posted to X.
(Screenshot from X.)
Grindr did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but we found no official reports that a company executive called the Republican National Convention Grindr’s Super Bowl.
In 2023, The Halfway Post also claimed on X that “the gay dating app Grindr says if Florida doesn’t stop passing homophobic and transphobic laws, they’ll reveal every Republican legislator and party official who secretly uses the app.” PolitiFact rated that claim False.
A Grindr executive didn’t say the Republican National Convention was the app’s Super Bowl. We rate the claim False.
Truth-o-meter Ruling
IF YOUR TIME IS SHORT
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The claim originated from a satire account.
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We found no credible reports that the company’s CEO called the Republican National Convention Grindr’s Super Bowl.
Statement
Context
an X postSpeaker/Target
Statement Date
Our Sources
X post, July 15, 2024
X post, July 16, 2024
X post, July 16, 2024
X post, July 16, 2024
X post, July 16, 2024
Former Congressman George Santos, X post, July 17, 2024
X account, accessed July 19, 2024
The Associated Press, The House expels Rep. George Santos. An ethics report had accused him of breaking federal law, December 1, 2023
PolitiFact, Grindr didn’t threaten to identify Republican politicians who use its app, March 28, 2023
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