Governor of Michigan is Not George Soros’s Niece
The Claim
Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, is George Soros’s niece.
News posted on
Emerging story
On June 1, Facebook user Greg Wilson posted, “How many of you are aware that the female governor of Michigan is the niece of George Soros?"
Misbar’s Analysis
The post was commented on over 100 times and shared over 4,000 times. Many of the comments take the post at face value, saying things such as “I did not know this. Thanks for sharing,” and “Wow, if true no wonder she is so radical.”
The post was flagged by Facebook as part of the social media site’s newfound attempts to fight false information. Whitmer’s deputy press secretary, Chelsea Lewis, said that the claim is “completely false.” Fact-checks on the claim were conducted by many news sites.
George Soros is a Hungarian-American billionaire investor known for supporting liberal causes. His brother, Peter Soros, died in 2013. Per his obituary, he was survived by his two living sons, Peter and Jeffrey, meaning that George Soros has no surviving nieces. Neither of his nephews married Whitmer, who is married to dentist Marc Mallory. Peter Soros is married to Flora Fraser, and Jeffrey Soros is married to Catharine Cosover.
The claim that Whitmer is Soros’s niece is likely tied to the claim that Soros owns a lab in Wuhan where COVID-19 was ostensibly developed. This was also proven false; however, the disinformation about Whitmer’s connection to Soros is probably related to anger at her extensive efforts to lock down Michigan to stop the spread of COVID-19.
