Was former President Bill Clinton found dead in a jail cell at Guantanamo Bay, and was it ruled a homicide by poison? No, that's not true: This claim was made on Real Raw News, a self-described satirical website that publishes articles like this one for "entertainment purposes." There is also no publicly available evidence to support this claim. Clinton was active on social media as of October 1, 2021.
Lead Stories debunked a separate, very similar article about Clinton by Real Raw News earlier this week.
This claim appeared in a September 30, 2021, article (archived here) by Real Raw News titled "Bill Clinton Death Ruled a Homicide, Death by Poison." It opened:
As reported by Real Raw News earlier this week, Guantanamo Bay security personnel discovered Bill Clinton's corpse lying on the floor of his cell at Camp Delta's segregation block at approximately 7:00 a.m., Saturday, September 25.
Users on social media only saw this title, description, and thumbnail:
Bill Clinton Death Ruled a Homicide, Death by Poison - Real Raw News
As reported by Real Raw News earlier this week, Guantanamo Bay security personnel discovered Bill Clinton's corpse lying on the floor of his cell at Camp Delta's segregation block at approximately 7:00 a.m., Saturday, September 25. He was face-down in a puddle of vomit and did not respond to attempts to resuscitate him. Clinton was [...]
The article continued:
Clinton had ingested copious amounts of a poison called Ricin, a GITMO source told Real Raw News.
As of October 1, 2021, Clinton was alive and healthy, tweeting a happy birthday post to former President Jimmy Carter. The death of any former president, like Bill Clinton, would be a significant news event, and in this case, there was nothing beyond the Real Raw News story.
Lead Stories reached out to the Clinton Foundation for a statement on this claim, and this article will be updated if a response is received.
Real Raw News has a long history of publishing false claims in mock news stories, many of them about convictions and executions of various public figures at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. For example, the site reported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hanged (she wasn't); former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta was executed (he wasn't); and that "the military" convicted former Attorney General William Barr on charges of treason (it didn't).
The website for Real Raw News includes a disclaimer that warns readers not to take its content too seriously. Specifically, it says:
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel.
(Source: RealRawNews.com screenshot taken Tue Aug 3 16:39:48 UTC 2021)
Lead Stories has covered claims published by Real Raw News in the past. Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items is collected here.
