On Oct. 22, 2023, the account @HalfwayPost on X (formerly Twitter) posted, "BREAKING: A Republican representative accidentally shot his wife in the foot while taking their annual Christmas card family photo where they all pose with AR-15s and pistols."
This was not a real event that happened.@HalfwayPost is an account that posts "halfway true comedy and satire," according to its X bio.
Had a lawmaker from any party or level of government shot their wife, that incident would have generated headlines by reputable news publications. That was not the case.
The satirical claim was possibly inspired by real family Christmas photos that seperately featured Reps. Lauren Boebert and Andy Ogles in 2021.
The X post about an alleged shooting by a politician wasn't the first @HalfwayPost item that we've covered. In August 2022, we alerted readers to the account's satirical claim that former U.S. President Donald Trump supposedly told his supporters to boycott the year's midterm elections. About one year later, we called attention to a @HalfwayPost post claiming that Disney World had supposedly annulled Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' marriage. (Yes, he really got married there.)
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.