Retired Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, who says he shot and killed Osama bin Laden, on Tuesday pushed back on President Donald Trump’s promotion of a QAnon conspiracy theory that bin Laden is still alive and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama “may have had Seal Team 6 killed.”
"Very brave men said [goodbye] to their kids to go kill Osama bin Laden. We were given the order by President Obama. It was not a body double," O'Neill tweeted. "Thank you Mr. President. Happy birthday @USNavy."
"Sh--. I just found out that I killed Osama bin Johnson. Drinks are on me, I guess..." O'Neill, a Trump supporter, added Tuesday evening.
Trump on Tuesday retweeted an article from an account with a history of promoting the baseless theory. The tweet linked to an article written by citizen journalist Kari Donovan titled, “CIA Whistleblower Parrot Makes Good on Promise-Story of Seal Team 6 and Biden’s Alleged Involvement.”
Twitter banned the user who tweeted the article, “Oscar the Midnight Rider 111.”
The president later retweeted about the conspiracy again, sharing a tweet from a video posted by another QAnon-linked account in which Alan Howell Parrot, a falcon trainer, claims Hillary Clinton and Biden colluded with Iran to arrange for bin Laden to be transferred to Pakistan for “Obama’s trophy kill.”