Does a screenshot show a real Mehdi Hasan social media post with a September 11 photo and the caption, "Make American planes crash again."? No, that's not true: The screenshot is altered. The original Feb. 16, 2025, and later deleted post by Hasan did not have a 9/11 image showing a plane about to crash into the World Trade Center. The post did have the caption "Make American planes crash again." over a retweeted NewsWire announcement about a plane crash in Georgia.
The fake screenshot appeared in a post (archived here) published by the X account on Aug. 6, 2026. It was captioned:
Fuk this guy.
This is the image included with the post:
(Image source: post by @Twolfrecovery on X.)
Included in the fabricated screenshot is a still taken from 9/11 footage published on YouTube by Kevin Westley. This moment, just before the second plane hit the World Trade Center, happens at 2 minutes and 8 seconds (archived here). This image was not posted by Mehdi Hasan.
A Feb. 16, 2025, post (archived here) on X by NewsWire announced there was a plane crash in Georgia (embedded below).
TWO DEAD IN SMALL PLANE CRASH AT GEORGIA'S COVINGTON AIRPORT
-- NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) February 16, 2025
For context, there does not appear to be a direct association between the two events, but the plane crashed in Georgia the same weekend that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) pressure resulted in the firings of many probationary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees. On Feb. 18, 2025, the Air Current published an article (archived here) on the firings, saying:
The Federal Aviation Administration's abrupt termination of probationary employees that began Feb. 14 has sparked confusion and anger as the industry and broader public watch the focus of the Trump Administration's cost-cutting and workforce reduction efforts turn to the country's aviation regulator.
Later on Feb. 16, 2025, Mehdi Hasan retweeted the post from NewsWire, adding the caption:
Make American Planes Crash Again.
The following day, Feb. 17, 2025, Hasan deleted the post (deleted post archived here). He posted an explanation of his decision (archived here) and also included a screenshot of the tweet he was deleting (embedded below). Note: The datestamp of the post on X shows Feb. 17, 2025 and the embed shows Feb. 18, 2025 -- these are the same post. Hasan wrote:
I deleted this sarcastic quote-tweet because MAGA and Islamophobic folks are clipping it out of context and trying to ridiculously suggest I'm inciting violence. I was obviously mocking the MAGA slogan 'Make America... Again' slogan and highlighting the shocking number of plane crashes under Trump and the FAA cuts. But this tweet was in poor taste, poorly worded, and has allowed people in bad faith to call me a terrorist, with one New York Post reporter cc-ing the FBI. So I deleted it. Meanwhile, the right wants to silence all journalists while crying 'free speech!'
I deleted this sarcastic quote-tweet because MAGA and Islamophobic folks are clipping it out of context and trying to ridiculously suggest I'm inciting violence. I was obviously mocking the MAGA slogan 'Make America... Again' slogan and highlighting the shocking number of plane... pic.twitter.com/edvFRq66ZH
-- Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) February 18, 2025
