Video of Hillary Clinton blaming climate change for election loss is altered | Fact check

The claim: Video shows Hillary Clinton blaming climate change for 2016 election loss, Epstein's death

A Dec. 17, 2023, Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking on a stage.

"I lost the 2016 election because of climate change," Clinton appears to say in the video. "Even Jeffery Epstein died because of climate change. It wasn't me. It was definitely climate change."

The video's caption reads, "Climate change has been especially hard on Hillary Clinton."

It was liked more than 32,000 times in a month.

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Our rating: Altered

The video's audio has been altered. The original video shows Clinton made no such comments. Instead, she talked about gender issues as they relate to climate change.

Video of Clinton at COP28 event is altered

The video shows Clinton at COP28, the United Nations climate summit, participating in a Dec. 4, 2023, event about women’s role in building a climate-resilient world.

However, the video's audio has been altered to change Clinton's comments entirely.

A livestream recording of the event on YouTube shows Clinton speaking multiple times but never making the comments in the Instagram video. Instead, she discussed gender as it relates to climate, urged more funding for women-led businesses related to climate and pointed out that women are more likely to bear the burden of climatic events.

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There is no mention of Clinton's purported comments in media coverage of the event.

COP28 is the latest iteration of an annual meeting organized by the U.N. that brings together the 198 parties that agreed to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was first adopted in 1992. It is meant to be a chance for countries to assess the fight against climate change and set future goals.

USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• Firstpost (YouTube), Dec. 4, 2023, COP28 Summit 2023 LIVE: Hillary Clinton Speaks on Women’s Role in Building a Climate-Resilient World
• Reuters, Dec. 3, 2023, Hillary Clinton at COP28 climate talks calls for insurance reform
• The Hill, Dec. 4, 2023, Clinton calls out some delegations at COP28 for not having enough women
• Independent, Dec. 5, 2023, Hillary Clinton says absence of women in Cop28 climate talks a major worry: ‘We are swimming against the tide’

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