Doctored video misidentifies US senator and fabricates praise for Ethiopian leader
- Published on March 17, 2026 at 17:02
- Updated on March 17, 2026 at 17:05
- 4 min read
- By Tolera FIKRU GEMTA, AFP Ethiopia
In March 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held a call to discuss strengthening bilateral relations. Around this time, Facebook posts shared a video purportedly showing US Senator John Thune lauding Abiy for working “tirelessly in the desert and forests”. However, the footage has been altered and the senator misidentified. The original video shows Senator Ted Budd discussing the war against Iran and the importance of defence funding, with no mention of Abiy.
The post, shared on Facebook on March 11, 2026, is accompanied by Amharic text reading: “The American senator John Thune has praised Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s commitment to work and humility.”
The post claims Thune said that Abiy, “who works tirelessly in the desert and forests rather than staying in the palace, is an exemplary figure for other African leaders”.
Shared more than 290 times, the post contains 26 seconds of footage purportedly showing Thune singing Abiy’s praises.
“The unique leadership style, work ethic and humility of Ethiopia's Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, are truly remarkable,” the senator, identified as Thune, appears to say.
“In an era where most leaders prefer luxury and rest, the prime minister works tirelessly through deserts and forests to lift his country out of poverty,” he adds. “Furthermore, the humility and respect he shows by personally driving and hosting high-level dignitaries make him an outstanding role model that other African leaders should follow.”
Other Facebook pages loyal to Ethiopia’s ruling Prosperity Party shared the posts here, here and here.
Improving relations
Relations between Ethiopia and the United States deteriorated during the 2020–2022 Tigray war over American concerns of human rights violations, prompting Washington to impose sanctions on Ethiopia. However, tensions have thawed this year (archived here).
In February 2026, senior US diplomat Nick Checker met Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timotheos to discuss economic growth, security threats, and regional stability in the Horn of Africa (archived here).
According to a brief statement by the State Department’s deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott, Rubio and Abiy continued the discussion in a call on March 11, 2026 (archived here).
However, claims that Thune commended Abiy’s leadership in a video are false.
Budd’s statement
AFP Fact Check used InVID-WeVerify to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the footage. The results established that the footage was originally published on Senator Ted Budd’s official YouTube channel on March 9, 2026 (archived here).
“Senator Budd tells Nexstar the importance in funding DHS,” reads the video’s title.
The false post incorrectly identifies the senator in the clip as Thune, who is the representative for South Dakota’s congressional district. Like Budd, Thune is a Republican, but he is more than 10 years older (archived here and here).
The clip of 38 seconds was also shared on Budd’s official Instagram and Facebook pages on the same date (archived here and here).
“Well, for decades, I mean, way before President Trump was ever in the office, before I was ever in the office, we have been very concerned about the Iranian threat to the homeland here,” Budd says in the clip.
“And when democrats want to shut down and defund DHS, it is very irresponsible. Not only that, the TSA at the airports that are working without salaries, that is the Coast Guard,” he adds.
The Coast Guard is a maritime service branch within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for coastal defence, while TSA stands for the US Transportation Security Administration (archived here and here).
A keyword search revealed a longer version of Budd’s interview with the Nexstar Media Group. In the 24-minute interview, Budd discusses the impacts of the ongoing military operation against Iran and the effects of the DHS shutdown (archived here).
At no point does Budd mention Abiy, whose photo was also added to the Facebook clip.
In mid-February 2026, the DHS entered a partial shutdown over a funding dispute between US lawmakers, largely driven by disagreements over immigration enforcement policies (archived here).
The shorter segment of footage shared on Budd’s social media accounts can be found in the longer version of the interview from the 5’53” mark to 6’28”.
Synthetic voice
AFP Fact Check established that the audio in the claim was digitally manipulated, making it appear as if Budd was praising Abiy.
It sounds robotic, with unnatural pacing and pauses typical of AI-generated audio.
Analysis of the voice using the AI audio detector Hiya suggested a 99 percent probability of voice cloning.
March 17, 2026 Updated to add AI tag
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