Does a video on Facebook show singer Cardi B. endorsing a "health spending card" from the U.S. government? No, that's not true: The footage of music artist Belcalis Almanzar-Cephus comes from a video in which she promoted a "holiday drink" she had made; not a health spending card. The U.S. government has denounced as scams any "spending cards" supposedly issued in its name, as Lead Stories has reported.
The claim appeared in a post on Facebook on November 11, 2023. The caption was:
GET YOURS HERE
They're trying to keep this a secret...
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of the writing of this fact check:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Thu Nov 16 17:56:03 2023 UTC)
The post has clips from videos of Cardi B and stock footage of people reacting to websites and holding wads of cash. The audio used for Cardi B resembles her voice, but does not sync with her lips in any of the clips.
The opening clip was taken from the first three seconds of this November 19, 2022, video post (archived here) on the performer's account on X, formerly known as Twitter. Rather than endorse government-funded "health spending cards," Cardi B is promoting a beverage she's created. She says:
Guys, I'm gonna be making the most delicious, coziest, holiday drink.
A Google News search (archived here) using the keywords "Cardi B. Endorses Health Spending Card" did not produce any results to substantiate the health spending card video's claim.
The account on Facebook that featured the fake video is not an official government account, nor does it link to any government sites ending in .gov, the top-level domain for U.S. government websites. The account provides no evidence that it is connected to any federal social welfare program.
A disclaimer issued on USA.gov, an official site that explains information about U.S. government programs and services, warns that promotions about "free money" from the government are scams.
Lead Stories previously reported about large-scale false promotions that trick people into giving out their personal information.
Other Lead Stories fact checks that mention Cardi B can be read here.
