{"id":737955,"date":"2021-09-10T13:20:14","date_gmt":"2021-09-10T17:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=737955"},"modified":"2021-09-10T13:20:17","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T17:20:17","slug":"fact-check-did-denzel-washington-say-democrat-elites-blackmailed-him-for-liking-donald-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-did-denzel-washington-say-democrat-elites-blackmailed-him-for-liking-donald-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Did Denzel Washington Say \u2018Democrat Elites\u2019 Blackmailed Him For Liking Donald Trump?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-did-denzel-washington-say-democrat-elites-blackmailed-him-for-liking-donald-trump%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=737955&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-645654154-scaled-e1631227378791.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>An image <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/photo.php?fbid=404399534374938&amp;set=a.106661630815398&amp;type=3&amp;eid=ARDtYK1hiROEBqSQ9NzsaenLJDXRg_XkVbC5retRbm5KBLonTvRu8E9hjoNvQHR9fhiXGpfCwNA0OKYE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">shared on Facebook<\/a> purportedly shows a Telegram message from actor Denzel Washington claiming he was blackmailed by \u201cdemocrat elites\u201d because he \u201crespects President Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Verdict: False<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The Telegram channel shown in the post is not Washington\u2019s Telegram channel. There is no record of Washington saying he was threatened to lose his career for respecting former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p><span><strong>Fact Check:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Washington, known for starring in the movies \u201cSafe House\u201d and \u201cTraining Day,\u201d has been the subject of misinformation related to his political views in the past. For instance, in 2016, a post on social media circulated that falsely claimed Washington praised Trump, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/election-us-2016-37987306\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BBC News<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n<p>The post on Facebook shows what appears to be a screenshot of a <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/denzelwashingtonchannel?fbclid=IwAR3bNKyCt9Y4J12x7yNAGHDWwH1gBZPa_uEGXVBmtrtwoKLVf_L-u6zoJTI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Telegram channel<\/a> claiming to be run by Washington. Telegram is an online messaging platform that allows users to send direct messages to each other, and create \u201cchannels\u201d to send public messages to groups of people, according to the platform\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/telegram.org\/faq#q-how-is-telegram-different-from-whatsapp\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe democrat elites blackmailed me several times because I wanted to stand up and declare myself as a Patriot who respects President Trump and loves our beautiful Country,\u201d the screen grabbed message reads. \u201cThey said that I would lose my career and be criticized by Hollywood. I accept that. I would rather be a free man than a slave to the epic propaganda spread by the media.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is, however, no record of Washington actually sending this message. There are <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/denzelwashiington\">several<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/DenzelWashingtonOfficiaI\">other<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/RealDenzelWashington\">Telegram<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/DenzelWashingtonOfficial\">channels<\/a> that also claim to be Washington\u2019s \u201cone and only Telegram Channel,\u201d and that post many of the same messages, including the one shown in the Facebook post. Telegram allows for <a href=\"https:\/\/telegram.org\/verify\">official channels<\/a> to be verified, but neither the <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/s\/denzelwashingtonchannel\">channel<\/a> shown in the Facebook post, nor the four others purporting to be Washington are verified.<\/p>\n<p>A wider internet search turned up no <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS890US890&amp;tbm=nws&amp;q=Denzel+Washington+%22The+democratic+elites+blackmailed+me+several+times+because+I+wanted+to+stand+up+and+declare+myself+as+a+Patriot+who+respects+President+Trump+and+loves+our+beautiful+Country%22&amp;spell=1&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiKvv6Y4_TyAhUpMVkFHUGQDhAQBSgAegQIBxAx&amp;biw=1440&amp;bih=729&amp;dpr=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">news reports<\/a> of Washington ever saying such a thing in any context. Washington\u2019s publicist confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact that the Telegram channels are not Washington, saying, \u201cIt\u2019s all fake.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/checkyourfact.com\/2021\/06\/25\/fact-check-denzel-washington-leaving-democratic-party-team-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Did Denzel Washington Say He\u2019s Leaving The Democratic Party To Help \u2018Team Trump\u2019?)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The message on Telegram does not seem to match Washington\u2019s previous public statements on politics. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DcklwmCdj5M\">December 2016 interview<\/a> at a screening of his movie \u201cFences,\u201d Washington was asked about who he voted for in the 2016 election, to which he answered, \u201cNone of your business.\u201d Campaign finance database&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.opensecrets.org\/donor-lookup\/results?name=Denzel+Washington\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Open Secrets<\/a> shows that Washington has previously&nbsp;donated money to Democratic presidential candidates, including former President Barack Obama in 2008 and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An image shared on Facebook purportedly shows a Telegram message from actor Denzel Washington claiming he was blackmailed by \u201cdemocrat elites\u201d because he \u201crespects President Trump.\u201dVerdict: False The Telegram channel &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-737955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=737955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/737955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=737955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=737955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=737955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}