Months after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was toppled in a revolution, social media posts falsely claimed US President-elect Donald Trump said in a podcast interview she was still the country's prime minister because she did not resign.
The prospect of Hasina's resignation being unlawful was raised when the South Asian nation's largely ceremonial president told local media he had not actually seen her resignation letter before she fled to neighbouring India. A review of Trump's podcast interview, however, showed he did not mention Bangladesh or its leadership, AFP reported after fact check.
"In an interview with PBD, Donald Trump said he thinks Sheikh Hasina is still the prime minister of Bangladesh," read part of a Bengali-language Facebook post shared on November 9, 2024.
"He said to the illegal occupiers of the Bangladeshi government: 'Those who say that Sheikh Hasina has fled, show me her resignation letter'."
Attached to the post is an image of Trump mid-interview with the host of the PBD Podcast, Patrick Bet-David. Bengali-language text underneath the image reads, "I believe Hasina is still prime minister of Bangladesh: Trump".
The same claim was also shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here.
It circulated after President Mohammed Shahabuddin told local media he had never seen ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's resignation letter -- raising the prospect that her departure was unlawful.
President-elect Trump, however, did not mention Bangladesh, its leadership, or Hasina's resignation in his interview with the PBD Podcast.
Trump's interview was published on the verified PBD Podcast YouTube channel on October 17.
The video is titled, "Donald Trump Gets Emotional-Speaks On Tariffs, Obama & Iran".
There is no mention of Bangladesh or Hasina in the one-hour, 26-minute episode.
A write-up of the interview posted by ABC News also makes no mention of Trump talking about Bangladesh.
Trump did post about Bangladesh on his official X account on October 31, saying, "I strongly condemn the barbaric violence against Hindus, Christians, and other minorities who are getting attacked and looted by mobs in Bangladesh, which remains in a total state of chaos".
His post, however, does not mention Sheikh Hasina or the country's leadership.
bd-pratidin/GR
