A viral social media rumor falsely claims that Secretary of State Marco Rubio rejected Ellen DeGeneres’ request to reinstate her U.S. citizenship. The social media posts suggest that Rubio stated DeGeneres had “no valid reason to immigrate to the US.”
This rumor gained significant traction on Facebook, leading to confusion about whether DeGeneres had renounced her citizenship after moving to the United Kingdom. The narrative posits that DeGeneres surrendered her American citizenship following the 2024 election and subsequently sought to regain it.
However, a review of available information reveals that this claim is fabricated. There is no evidence that Ellen DeGeneres ever relinquished her U.S. citizenship, which would negate the need for a reinstatement application. Furthermore, there are no credible reports from major news organizations or official government sources to support the accusation that Secretary of State Marco Rubio made such a statement or that the State Department processed any such application.
The origin of this misinformation has been traced to a Facebook page that explicitly identifies itself as a platform for fictional political satire. This page describes its content as “certified AI-free trollery and right-wing propaganda,” and explicitly states, “Nothing on this page is real.” Many reposts of the original content omitted this disclaimer, contributing to the spread of the false narrative.
While Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, Portia de Rossi, did relocate to the Cotswolds region of England after the 2024 election, there is no public information indicating that DeGeneres renounced her U.S. citizenship or attempted to have it reinstated. This is not the first instance of fabricated satire involving DeGeneres and Rubio appearing from this particular page, suggesting a pattern of generating fictional political content.
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