Does a photo show secret meeting between John McCain and Osama Bin Laden? Fact Check

A photograph spreading online through forums and social media purports to show late US senator John McCain meeting terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden, along with South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham.

FALSE

Spread largely through conspiracy-inclined websites and forums, many claim the image shows a “secret meeting” held by the “deep state” to raise money. Conspiracy theorists often use the term “deep state” to refer to a collective of influential mystery-men that such theorists believe are covertly controlling the American and global political landscapes.

An example of the photo can be seen below.

However, the photo is simply fake. While the photo does indeed show John McCain and Lindsey Graham, the man in the middle is not Osama Bin Laden. A simple reverse image search reveals the original photo, that clearly shows that Bin Laden’s head has been digitally added.

The man in the middle of the photo is Hamid Karzai, the then leader of Afghanistan. The photo shows a meeting that certainly wasn’t secret – in fact it shows a meeting between Karzai and McCain that was taken when McCain was in Afghanistan visiting troops on July 4th weekend 2013, and was tweeted by McCain himself.

As such, the photo is fake and we don’t recommend circulating it.