CNN Did Not Define Al-Golani's Pronouns
The Claim
CNN: So, ex Al Qaida huh. Jolani: Yep. CNN: hmm first things first *puts a scarf on halfway* CNN: So, Jolani. You go by "He/Him," right? *Jolani confused* Jolani: I guess. CNN: We are LIVE from Damascus with…
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Emerging story
As al-Golani has been in the spotlight in recent days, a claim went viral among social media users alleging that CNN identified Al-Jolani as "He/Him" during his interview with the outlet.
The screenshot sparked a wave of sarcasm on the X platform. An X user wrote an imagined interview between CNN and al-Jolani where the interviewer ensured Jolani’s pronouns were correct: “CNN: So, ex Al Qaida huh. Jolani: Yep. CNN: hmm first things first *puts a scarf on halfway* CNN: So, Jolani. You go by "He/Him," right? *Jolani confused* Jolani: I guess. CNN: We are LIVE from Damascus with…”
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the viral claim and found it to be fake.
Misbar’s team reviewed all the versions of al-Golani’s interview with CNN published by the outlet's website and official accounts and did not find any pronouns mentioned in the interview.
Altered Screenshot of CNN’s Interview
Misbar’s team reviewed the CNN interview with al-Golani and found that the alleged viral screenshot where al-Golani’s pronouns are mentioned was found to be fabricated.
In the interview, which can be watched on the official CNN YouTube channel, the banner identifying al-Golani appeared at the timestamp 1:33 and was repeated several times in the interview.
The banner did not include any pronouns as claimed. It reads: “SYRIA’S CIVIL WAR - CNN SPEAKS TO MAIN REBEL LEADER AMID SHOCK OFFENSIVE: Abu Mohammed al-Jolani | Leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).”
Another version of the meeting was published on the CNN-News18 YouTube channel. In this version too the alleged pronouns did not appear anywhere in the interview. A banner identifying him appeared at the timestamp 0:32, reading: “Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, HTS Chief.”
We further reviewed CNN’s interview published on social media platforms. On Instagram, CNN published the interview with a banner that said: “HAYAT TAHRIR AL-SHAM (HTS) LEADER: Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.” Similarly, the "He/Him" pronouns were not included in the identifying banner too.
Finally, Misbar’s team reviewed the version of the interview uploaded on CNN’s website. The banner identifying al-Jolani appeared at the timestamp 00:10. It reads: “Abu Mohammad al-Jolani. HTS LEADER.” It also did not include the "He/Him" pronouns.
Determining the similarity of the banner of this version with the screenshots published by social media users, Misbar’s team concluded that this version of the interview was screenshotted by social media users and altered to include the pronouns "He/Him" beside al-Golani’s name.
Al-Golani’s Interview with CNN
Al-Golani said in his first sit-down media interview in years that overthrowing Assad’s regime is the ultimate objective for Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).
According to al-Golani, Hezbollah, Iran, and Russia attempted to revive the regime. However, the seeds of the regime's defeat have always been within it.
The interview which took place on Dec. 6, two days before the fall of the Assad regime, was going midway when news broke that forces under al-Golani’s command had captured the city of Hama.
Commenting on his previous affiliation with al-Qaeda, al-Golani said that he has gone through episodes of transformation through the years, emphasizing that one’s personality differs depending on the age.
Despite his attempts to distance himself and the HTS from its roots, the U.S., Turkey, the United Nations and several other Western nations continue to designate HTS as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
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