In mid-November 2024, a collage featuring three photos purportedly showing 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden posing with former U.S. President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton circulated on social media (archived).
"I'm not a betting man but I would take the odds that you won't hear a peep from them," one X user said of the politicians in the images.
(X user @TedLogan1010)
The collage also circulated online in May 2023 and September 2024, and social media users had previously made the claim in posts in various languages, such as Korean, Farsi and Spanish.
"Thought I unfollowed them all," read a post shared to Reddit in 2019:
Thought I unfollowed them all
byu/DawgP0undTribe ininsanepeoplefacebook
TinEye search results showed that the collage had been shared online at least since 2015.
The first of the three pictures allegedly shows Obama posing with bin Laden. However, the original version of that photo did not feature bin Laden. According to the now-defunct website attyandrewooten.com, it showed "Attorney Andre Wooten seen here having some quality time with Senator Barack Obama." The photo was taken when the senator visited Hawaii.
(X user @theMemesBot, Andre Wooten)
The image also was used for the cover of the book "African American Attorneys In Hawaii," which is available on Amazon.
The second picture allegedly shows Rice standing next to bin Laden. "Released Photo of Condoleezza Rice and Osama bin Laden in party 2 weeks before 9/11," one X post claimed.
Released Photo of Condoleezza Rice and Osama Bin Laden in party 2 weeks before 9/11 https://t.co/FH92KP49uj #svpol pic.twitter.com/VOkhnXWqcF
— olofpalmskrutt (@olofpalmskrutt) February 19, 2015
That post linked to an website that read:
A newly declassified photo showing former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and super terrorist Osama Bin Laden has been released under the Freedom of Information Act. The photo purportedly shows the two partying at a wine and dine in an American owned bar at Kandahar, Afghanistan just two weeks before the infamous and fateful 9/11.
Unnamed C.I.A. sources say the purpose of the soiree was to drug Bin Laden with truth serum and get him to divulge any impending terrorist plans. According to the sources Bin Laden got very drunk and was whisked away by his bodyguards before the truth serum could take affect.
There was also a meme template featuring the picture with the title "September 11th 2001 Inside Job Controlled Demolition."
(imgflip.com)
However, the image was digitally edited. In fact, Snopes previously reported on it in 2015. The image was originally created for an April Fool's Day Photoshop contest in 2008 organized by FreakingNews.com, which described itself as a "photoshop contest site focusing on news, politics, and celebrities."
(X user @ElPizarronNene)
The third picture also was digitally edited for the FreakingNews.com Photoshop contest, similarly to the one featuring Rice. The organizer's instructions for the contest read:
Contest Directions: Senator Hillary Clinton officially declared her bid for presidency 2008.
Making her announcement Hillary said "I'm in". This is the phrase she rarely heard from Bill in their bedroom.
In this contest you are asked to photoshop anything connected to Senator Hillary Clinton running for president of United States. Examples may be photoshopping magazine covers, campaign photos, or future presidency achievements.
The website for the Photoshop contest was no longer available; however, Internet Archive's Wayback Machine showed that, in 2008, the image's description read: "Going for the terrorist vote."
The original version of the picture could be found on the website warmandal.com. It showed Clinton shaking hands with an Indian musician, Shubhashish Mukherjee.
(X user @TopInfoBlogs, www.swarmandal.com)
In sum, all three photos in the viral image were digitally edited to insert the face of Osama bin Laden. Therefore, we have rated this claim as fake.