Denzel Washington Has Not Left the Democratic Party
The Claim
Denzel Washington is leaving the Democratic Party.
News posted on
Emerging story
A claim on social media has been circulating that actor Denzel Washington is leaving the Democrat Party in order to help former President Donald Trump. One Instagram post which received more than 1000 likes claimed that Washington said, “I’ve had it with the lies,” regarding the Democratic Party.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar discovered that while Denzel Washington does not frequently speak about his politics, his past political contributions have all been in support of left-leaning politicians, and there is no evidence of a political change. A version of the post first appeared on Bustatroll.org, which is a self-proclaimed junk news site. It is operated by America’s Last Line of Defense which is also a collection of fabricated news. America’s Last Line of Defense also posted the claim in April 2021.
Washington made a substantial donation to help former President Barack Obama in 2008 and Secretary Hilary Clinton in 2016, both democrats. In addition, Alan Nierob, a representative for Washington, recently confirmed to Reuters via email that the actor did not say that “he’d had it with the lies” to any publication.
Washington would most likely be outspoken about a political party change if it did occur. Katie Couric once asked him in an interview whether he preferred to keep his political preferences private and he responded, “No, I'm not one of those people. I think I speak what's on my mind." Often playing a police officer on screen, he has also been very outspoken about his support for law enforcement in America.
