Contrary to claims on social media, an alleged tweet by Warren Buffett circulating online and saying a “former president” was “begging for money” is not real. Rather, it was originally posted by a Twitter account that identifies as sharing parody tweets.
The tweet, purportedly sent by the verified account “@WarrenBuffett,” reads: “I don’t like to get mixed up in politics but I wonder how the Former President was ever a billionaire. I mean, he spends more time begging for money than most bums.”
A TikTok clip with the tweet has garnered over 342,000 views (here).
Other examples on Twitter and Facebook (here) (here) (here) (here).
Debbie Bosanek, a spokeswoman for Buffett, confirmed to Reuters the tweet is not authentic. “Mr. Buffett doesn’t tweet,” she said.
Buffett’s verified Twitter account @WarrenBuffett does not appear to have posted any new tweets since April 2016 (here)
The image was originally posted by satirical Twitter account @FaithRubPol on Aug. 15, 2022 (here).
This version, like other fabricated tweets usually shared by the user, includes a watermark at the bottom of the image that identifies the content as “parody.” It’s Twitter bio says, “Most of our images are satire.”
That text disclaimer, however, is no longer visible in some of the versions shared online, which appear to have been cropped.
Reuters has addressed multiple parody posts by @FaithRubPol taken seriously online (here) (here) (here) (here) (here).
VERDICT
Satire. This image originated as a post by a satirical Twitter account. A spokesperson for Warren Buffett told Reuters the tweet is not authentic.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here .
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.