Fact Check

Is Tooka Pizinistee the First Woman to Lead a Muslamic Congregation in the USA?

If the U.S. Congress sees such a congregation, it probably won't be lead by Lady Gaga.

Published Dec 20, 2018

 (Shutterstock)
Image Via Shutterstock
Claim:
Tooka Pizinistee will be the first woman to lead a muslamic congregation in the U.S.

In December 2018, we started to received queries about a woman named "Tooka Pizinistee" and her purported achievement of becoming the first woman to lead a "muslamic" congregation in the United States. We have not been able to locate the source of this claim, but a Facebook user shared a debunked version of this meme on social media:

That user was right in her assessment that this meme is "fake."

For one, there's no mention of a "Tooka Pizinistee" on the House of Representatives' Office of the Chaplain website. We also were unable to unearth any news reports about Nancy Pelosi's appointing a woman of this name to replace the existing House Chaplain.

The biggest indication that this meme is a hoax, however, is that the pictured woman is not named "Tooka Pizinistee." This image actually shows singer Lady Gaga at a press event in Belgium in 2014:

It should also be noted that "Tooka Pizinistee" appears to be a gag name in the same vein as Seymour Butts and I.P. Freeley. When this name is sounded out, it turns into "Took a piss in his tea."

Sources

Roberts, Edward.   "Lady Gaga Is a Knockout in Elegant Blue Ensemble Before Changing Into Something Rather Risqué in Brussels."     The Mirror.   23 September 2014.

Dan Evon is a former writer for Snopes.

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