The Claim:
A Twitter/X post contains several wildly inaccurate claims about former German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It incorrectly asserts that Merkel was ‘arrested in 2019,’ ‘suffered from severe withdrawal symptoms due to consuming children’s flesh,’ and was ‘executed.’ The photo accompanying the post has been manipulated to make Merkel appear ill. This photo was originally from a 2015 Reuters report.
The Facts:
Merkel is alive and has retired from German politics. According to a December 2023, Politico report, Merkel gradually removing herself from duties with German civil society organizations. There is no evidence that she suffered from Kuru. This fabricated claim is designed to bolster the wildly false accusation that Merkel has consumed human flesh.
Context Narrative:
This post echoes an anti-elite conspiracy narrative similar to others, which allege a conspiracy by members of the Western ‘elite’ to kidnap children and consume them. The QAnon Andrenochrome conspiracy theory claims that Hollywood celebrities and ‘liberal elite’ politicians are kidnapping children to harvest their blood, and that the blood of kidnapped children is a source of adrenochrome, a chemical supposedly possessing psychedelic properties and promising immortality.
Platforms aligned with Russia have attempted to link Ukraine to this conspiracy theory in an effort to erode Western support for Ukraine. A June 2023 article, published on a website identified by the US State Department as a pillar of Russian disinformation, Global Research, claimed that Ukraine is ‘harvesting children’s organs in adrenochrome labs.’ There is absolutely no evidence to support this conspiracy theory claim.
