Watch out for the fake images said to show a Houthi strike on a US aircraft carrier
Social media users have been claiming that Houthi rebels successfully bombed an American aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, on May 31. The US Army did say that they had intercepted and destroyed a Houthi drone and two missiles on June 1, which were likely aimed at another American ship in the Red Sea. However, the social media claims that the Houthi operation was successful were based on videos that were modified or taken out of context.
If you only have a minute:
Pro-Houthi and Chinese social media accounts flooded social media with videos that they claimed showed a successful Houthi rebel strike on the Eisenhower aircraft carrier.
It turns out, however, that some of these videos were digitally altered. Others don’t show the Eisenhower aircraft carrier at all.
The US Army said that they had destroyed Houthi missiles and drones on June 1 and 2.
The factcheck, in detail
Did Houthi missiles really hit the Eisenhower aircraft carrier? Ever since the Americans and the British launched a joint strike on the zones of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on May 30, the spokespeople for the Yemeni group have claimed that they responded by attacking US ships and the Eisenhower aircraft carrier, which has been operational in the Red Sea since January 2024.
Other social media users claimed that the Eisenhower caught fire after the missile strikes. However, the images that users shared as supposed proof actually show another ship back in 2020.
