Fact Check

No, Military Generals Didn't Announce Imposing Martial Law After Christmas

If they had, we're pretty sure you'd hear about it from a source more credible than this blurry meme.

Published Dec. 18, 2020

DUJAIL, IRAQ - OCTOBER 18:  U.S. Army soldiers salute during a memorial service for Sgt. Robert Tucker at a military base October 18, 2005 in Dujail, Iraq. Tucker, 20, from Cookeville, Tennessee, was killed by insurgents when a roadside bomb blew up his armored vehicle on October 13 near Dujail, just two weeks before the end of his 10-month deployment in Iraq. He was assigned to K-Troop, of the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which patrols the area around Dujail. Saddam Hussein is scheduled to go on trial on October 19, for the death of 143 people from Dujail who he allegedly ordered killed in 1985 in revenge for an assassination attempt.  (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) ( John Moore / Getty Images)
Image courtesy of John Moore / Getty Images
Claim:
U.S. military generals sent a direct message to Americans, stating they would invoke martial law after Christmas 2020.

In mid-December 2020, social media users shared a meme that stated it was issued by "Military Generals" to the American people. The meme proclaims that U.S. President "Donald J. Trump was the man chosen by the military" to control acts of terrorism domestically and that martial law would be invoked after Christmas:

This is not a real message from U.S. military generals to the public.

Instead, as the QAnon conspiracy theory hashtag indicates at the bottom of the meme, it appears to be nothing more than fearmongering based on statements from some Trump supporters, who say they want Trump to use martial law to overturn the results of the November 2020 election, which he lost.

Trump and his supporters have pushed an aggressive disinformation campaign, claiming falsely that the 2020 election was beset by widespread fraud and that it was Trump, not President-elect Joe Biden, who actually won.

Trump's own U.S. Department of Homeland Security debunked this conspiracy theory, stating the November 2020 election was "the most secure in American history."

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and has covered everything from crime to government to national politics. She has written for ... read more