On Aug. 28, 2023, a prominent and verified YouTube creator named Da Real Adogg posted a new reaction video with the misleading title, "**OH SH*T!! TRUMP RESPONDS!! FANI WILLIS GOT INDICTED!! Fulton County DA Just Got Some Very BAD News."
Here's how we arrived at this moment: On Aug. 14, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' office in Georgia indicted former U.S. President Donald Trump and 18 other individuals in regard to their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state, The Associated Press reported. All 19 of the people who were charged were then booked and photographed, including Trump, whose mugshot was released along with the rest.
Following the indictment, House Republicans announced their intention to investigate Willis to find out if her office had communications with officials inside President Joe Biden's administration, as well as to target any federal funds her office may have received, according to The New York Times. Some Georgia Republicans were also seeking to impeach Willis and defund her office.
However, the YouTube video title's claim that Willis herself had been indicted was false. Nowhere in the video was any evidence presented that would show Willis had been informed that she was going to be charged with a crime.
The video in question was viewed close to 200,000 times within two days of being posted.
A top comment under the video with hundreds of likes showed that users were boasting about receiving their news from these kinds of videos. "So glad I found this channel. We have to get the real news," the comment read. "Nothing but the truth. TRUMP 2024!!!"
Multiple users left comments that showed they truly believed that Willis herself had been indicted or was about to be indicted. "It's high time for some Democrats to be investigated and indicted," one user wrote.
The original YouTube video that Da Real Adogg was reacting to came from another channel and contained political commentary and clips from news channels, but did not say that Willis had been indicted. The original video also included several product pitches for viewers to invest in gold and silver and to buy T-shirts with Trump's mugshot, Trump bobbleheads and more.
We reached out to Da Real Adogg via X (formerly Twitter) for comment and will update this story if we receive further information.