Disinformation: “The Simpsons” predicted the assassination of Donald Trump

Facebook accounts are actively spreading a picture (1, 2, 3, 4) on social media that is taken out from an episode of “The Simpsons” and depicts the deceased Donald Trump. In reality, such an episode does not occur in the series at all, and the posts are a continuation of the conspiracy theory according to which "The Simpsons" predicted the future.

“The Simpsons” is an American animated television series that debuted on December 17, 1989, with a Christmas episode on the Fox Network. The animation already has 35 seasons and has not lost its popularity.

A picture showing the deceased Trump has been circulating since 2017. Information related to the image has been verified by fact-checking organizations such as American LeadStories, Reuters, Snopes.

First of all, it must be noted that there is a website called Wikisimpsons which lists all the episodes from the series in which Donald Trump appeared or was mentioned at all. Trump's death cannot be found in these episodes. In one of the episodes, called “Funeral for a Fiend”, we see a funeral scene, and supposedly Trump's photo was created by editing the footage from this episode.

Moreover, Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons”, confirmed to Reuters that such an episode does not appear in the series and that it has been edited.

Significantly, conspiracy theories have been circulating about the animation for many years. “The Simpsons” are often credited with predicting various major events, such as COVID-19 and the Notre Dame fire in Paris. For example, regarding Covid, conspiracy theorists disseminated an episode where the character Kent Brockman is presenting the news in his studio, while the screen appears to show the words “CORONA VIRUS”. This episode has been edited as well, and it actually says “Apocalypse Meow” on the screen. As for the Notre Dame fire, conspiracy theorists edited a shot of the cathedral from an episode of the animation and added an image of a fire to it in the background, thereby claiming that “The Simpsons” predicted the fire.

As a reminder, it should be noted that on the evening of July 13, an armed person shot several bullets at the US presidential candidate Donald Trump in the town of Butler, Pennsylvania. Donald Trump was injured in the ear during the attack. According to the information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the attacker was 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

Therefore, the claim that “The Simpsons” predicted the attack on Donald Trump is false.