Texas Ag Chief Posts Fake News About Trump Busting Up Sharia Law

AUSTIN, TX — In an age of alleged "fake news," it's often the loudest voices expressing the critique that are the ones actually offering up counterfeit narratives. Take Texas agriculture commissioner Sid Miller, for instance.

On Sunday, Miller posted a made-up story from a questionable website describing Donald Trump's removal of a Muslim federal judge who was said to be practicing Sharia law. "22nd Circuit Court of Appeals Justice Hansam al Alallawalahi-Smith made headlines this week when he overturned a ruling out of Dearborn, Michigan," the original post read. "The ruling allowed two critical and violent tenets of Sharia Law to be practiced here in the United States."

Miller reflexively added personal commentary to the post: "Good on President Trump. Sharia law has no place in the United States of America." The story claimed a judge named Hansam al Alallawalahi-Smith made a ruling in Michigan supporting two tenants of Sharia law, a religious code used in some Muslim communities.

Problem is, as the Houston Chronicle reported in a follow-up story, there is no 22nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The federal courts have no 22nd circuit, ergo the court doesn't exist. Moreover, Politifact reported, it's not possible for a president to directly remove a federal judge. It's Congress that can force such removals via impeachment.

The headline to the post has since been amended after being widely debunked: “Well it looks like I may have been duped," the post — which remains on Miller's social media page despite the debunking — reads. "This may be fake news, but I still think Sharia law has no place in the United States of America.”

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Todd Smith, Miller's campaign consultant, said he personally put up the original post touting Trump's imagined action after a supporter forwarded the item from a website dubbed "As American As Apple Pie." The original made-up story reportedly originated from another website called "Trump Solid Supporters."

"It looked interesting," Smith told PolitiFact, noting that among some 55,000 posts on Miller's Facebook page over four years, maybe five turned out lacking factual basis. "That’s a pretty good track record," Smith boasted. "It’s not our intent to put out misinformation."

FactCheck.org, based at the University of Pennslvania, also found the claim to be false. They noted a disclaimer on the "As American As Apple Pie" site that reads: "Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site’s pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical."

The parallel universe in which the story dwells and from where it originated doesn't seem to bother Miller's followers, however. A good many amount of supporters praised the fake narrative of Trump's removing a federal judge for practicing Sharia law, unburdened with the lack of pesky facts that might get in the way of a good story that's garnered more than 27,000 likes and in excess of 7,000 shares. Miller's post has generated more than 3,000 mostly supportive comments, lauding Trump's removal of a Muslim judge even though the action never took place in the world of reality.

The bit of fake news comes on the same week that Trump himself is under fire again for offering up false narratives presented as factual information. Trump launched his nascent political career with repeated claims that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya, an assertion that has since been widely debunked (particularly after Obama released his birth certificate).

On Wednesday morning, Trump re-tweeted a series of inflammatory videos purporting to show violence being committed by Muslims. The videos were originally posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of the far-right group Britain First, a small fringe group elevated by Trump's recent attention.

"VIDEO: Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death!" the Trump-tweeted post blares as its headline. "VIDEO: Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary!" reads another. "VIDEO: Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches!" claims a third.

But the origins of the anti-Muslim videos couldn't be immediately confirmed, and their use was blasted as racist in some circles. The White House subsequently seemed to backtrack as to the videos' authenticity, with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later telling reporters at a news conference it doesn't really matter if the videos are real given the context: "Whether it's a real video, the threat is real," she said. "His goal is to promote strong border security and strong national security."

But back to Miller. Like Trump, the ag commissioner is an exceptionally prolific tweeter, even offering "Joke of the Day," "Recipe of the Day" "Word of the Day" and "Today in Texas History" posts among the dizzying variety of his varied social media offerings.

On the same day of his fake Sharia law news, more than 50 (fifty) other items were posted on the page (starting at 6:30 a.m. and concluding 14 hours later). The last item posted on Miller's Facebook page on Sunday, posted at 8:30 p.m., was an incongruous and inexplicable homage to the late comic actor Don Knotts.

Miller, a Stephenville, Texas, native, is up for re-election next year. Kim Olson, a retired Air Force colonel, filed paperwork earlier this month to run as a Democrat against him.

>>> Top photo of Miller via the Texas Department of Agriculture website