Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Woman questions absence of Muslim representation in Donald Trump cabinet.
Fact
2014 video from a panel discussion shared out of context.
Several social media users shared a video purportedly showing a female US officer berating a Muslim girl for questioning the lack of Muslim representation in the Donald Trump cabinet.
The 4:52 minute video is being widely shared on Facebook and X with claim, “President Trump of America is taking oath on 20 January 2025, he has given place to people of all religions and castes in his cabinet but has not taken a single Muslim in his cabinet….A Muslim girl living in America asked the officers sitting on the stage that why the image of us Muslims is presented wrongly all over the world….then the answer given by a lady officer there was ear-opening…” A shorter version of the video has also surfaced online.
Such posts can be seen here, here, here and here.
In the video, a girl, who identifies herself as Saba Ahmed – a law student at an American University, is purportedly heard asking the panelists, “…We have 8 million-plus Muslim Americans in this country and I don’t see them represented here…How can we ever end this war, the Jihadist ideology that you talk about, it’s an ideology, how can you ever win this thing if you don’t address it ideologically?”
The female speaker then replies “… What I find so amazing is, since the beginning of this panel, which we are here about the Benghazi attack against our people, not one person mentioned Muslims…”
“…There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world today of course not all of them are radicals the majority of them are peaceful people the radicals are estimated to be between 15 to 25% according to all intelligence services around the world that leaves 75% of them peaceful people but when you look at 15 to 25% of the world Muslim population you’re looking at 180 million to 300 million people dedicated to the destruction of Western Civilization that is as big as the United States….”
She then lists multiple global instances of “irrelevant peaceful majority,” and adds, “…since you’re the only Muslim representative in here, you took the limelight instead of speaking about why our government.. and I assume you are an American…? You’re an American citizen… So, as an American citizen you sat in this room and instead of standing up and saying a question or asking something about our four Americans that died and what our government is doing to correct the problem, you used it to make a point about peaceful moderate Muslims…”
Fact Check/Verification
On carefully analysing the viral clip, we heard the woman panelist saying that the discussion was about the “Benghazi attack.” Further, we didn’t find any mention of Donald Trump or his cabinet in the video.
A Google lens search on the keyframes of the viral video led us to YouTube post by @TheHeritageFoundation, dated June 17, 2014, featuring the “exchange between questioner Saba Ahmed and a panel at a June 16, 2014, event, ‘Benghazi: The Difference It Makes Is Accountability!’”
We analysed the YouTube video, and found it to be a longer version of the viral clip that is being widely shared to show a girl questioning Muslim representation in Donald Trump’s cabinet.
Also Read: Viral Video Showing Nirmala Sitharaman Saying She Is ‘Not The One who Gets Taxed’ Is AI Generated
At the beginning of the video, we spotted the girl asking the question as seen in the viral video. The question is first addressed by panelist Frank Gaffney, and then by Brigitte Gabriel, the woman heard speaking in the viral video. Gabriel is the head of ACT for America, a group dubbed as “anti-Muslim.” The viral clip can be seen around 4:09 minutes in the YouTube video by @TheHeritageFoundation.
The full video of the event was also uploaded on the verified YouTube channel of The Heritage Foundation on June 17, 2014. The viral clip can be seen around 56:34 minutes into the same video titled ‘Benghazi: The Difference It Makes Is Accountability!.’
Hence, the viral clip is from an event organised by The Heritage Foundation in 2014.
We found multiple Opinion articles from 2014 about the panelists’ response to Ahmed’s question during the event about the September 2012 attacks on US facilities in Libya’s Benghazi.
Notably, Donald Trump announced his first US Presidential run in 2015, and was sworn in as the 45th POTUS in 2017.
Also Read: Did Priyanka Gandhi Carry A Handbag Saying ‘I Don’t Care About Bangladeshi Hindus’?
Conclusion
Hence, the viral video does not show a Muslim woman questioning the lack of Muslim representation in the Donald Trump cabinet.
Result: False
Sources
YouTube Video By @TheHeritageFoundation, Dated June 17, 2014
Release By White House, Dated January 20, 2017
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
