A rumor circulated online in early October 2024 claiming the humanitarian aid charity Red Cross reported that conservative donations outweighed liberal donations by more than 78%.
For example, the Facebook page America - Love It Or Leave It posted the alleged statistic on Oct. 9:
(Facebook account @America - Love It Or Leave It)
Some readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events, with one person writing: "That's because conservatives care more about their country and it's citizens."
The fictional story spread as the American Red Cross worked to respond to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
However, there was no evidence the Red Cross reported that conservatives donate 78% more than liberals, and no credible news outlets reported such a story. Likewise, a quick scan of the organization's donation page shows the charity does not ask people their political leanings when making a contribution.
Rather, the rumor originated with America – Love It Or Leave It (which is affiliated with the America's Last Line of Defense network) — a Facebook page that describes its output as being satirical in nature. Its intro states:
A subsidiary of the America's Last Line of Defense network of trollery. Nothing on this page is real.
ALLOD and ALIOLI both have a history of making up stories for shares and comments, sometimes relying on artificial-intelligence writing software to do their storytelling.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources that call their output humorous or satirical.