Water balloon struck local politician, not Mike Pence
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on July 17, 2023 at 20:23
- Updated on July 17, 2023 at 21:58
- 4 min read
- By Bill MCCARTHY, AFP USA
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"Give this girl the cy young for hitting mike pence in the melon with a water balloon," says a July 14, 2023 tweet sharing the video, referring to the award given to Major League Baseball's best pitchers.
Similar posts claiming the clip shows a girl pelting Pence above the shoulders racked up millions of views across Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and other social media platforms. US sports media brands The Sporting News and SB Nation amplified the rumor.
"This girl was built for the NFL. She lasers a perfect lead throw on the noggin of former Vice President Mike Pence with a water balloon," The Sporting News said in a since-deleted tweet.
But despite the claims taking off online, the video does not show Pence, who is seeking the presidency in 2024 after serving in the White House as Donald Trump's vice president.
A Pence spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the former vice president is not the person who was struck by the balloon, pointing to Twitter Community Notes appended to one post to debunk it.
The footage actually shows Bruce Blakeman, the county executive of Nassau County, New York. Blakeman, a Republican, posted the video to Twitter and Facebook (archived here and here) on July 12, joking that the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, the state's two professional baseball teams, could both use the girl on their squads.
"The water balloons and soaker guns are a long tradition at the Stewart Manor parade," Blakeman wrote in a comment under his Facebook post. "Please do not be offended. All those who march including me, do so at their peril and are fair game. I had fun even if I got a little wet!"
The county executive linked to a CBS News New York report (archived here) that included footage of the water balloon fight in Stewart Manor, New York and said the event has been taking place for nearly 20 years as part of the town's American Independence Day festivities.
"The parade kicked off at 10:30 am with marching bands and firetrucks," the report says, adding that thousands of people turned out. "Then it all morphed into a massive neighborhood water fight."
AFP geolocated the footage to Covert Avenue, matching a house and street light to imagery from Google Maps Street View (archived here).
Reached by AFP, Christopher Boyle, Blakeman's director of communications, confirmed the county executive was the water balloon's target.
Blakeman can be seen wearing what appears to be same black shirt, dark jeans and sneakers from the water balloon footage in other photos he shared of the Stewart Manor parade (archived here).
Pence, meanwhile, spent this year's July 4 marching in another parade in Urbandale, Iowa, and he tweeted several times about his visit (archived here, here and here). He wore a red shirt.
AFP has previously debunked other misinformation about Pence here.
July 17, 2023 This article was updated to include a comment from Christopher Boyle, director of communications for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
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