PETA was fact-checked by X's 'Community Notes' for claiming turkeys 'would never do this to us'
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Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was fact-checked by Community Notes, a service on X, after PETA claimed in a viral post that turkeys would never eat humans at Thanksgiving.
"We’re lucky turkeys would never do this to us—you don’t have to do it to them, either," PETA wrote in a caption to a post that has received over 26.7 million views online. The picture attached to the post depicts a family of turkeys sitting around a human turkey at the center of the table.
"Turkeys are not vegetarians," according to the Community Note. "Turkeys eat mice, lizards, frogs, and just about anything they can fit in their mouth. If turkeys were larger or had the technological means to farm and eat humans, their current diet reveals they likely would."
Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) was fact-checked by Community Notes, a service on X, after PETA claimed in a viral post that turkeys would never eat humans at Thanksgiving. (Adobe Stock / Getty / iStock)
PETA's post was mocked by political commentators online.
"Do you ever post about how many birds are killed by wind turbines?" Republican strategist Scott Presler wrote.
Other users congratulated Community Notes for calling out PETA.
"PETA got community noted and it’s one of the best," Tousi TV founder Mahyar Tousi wrote.
"All time champion community note," Cato Institute vice president Scott Lincicome wrote. "Will never be topped."
Do you ever post about how many birds are killed by wind turbines?
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) November 24, 2023
PETA got community noted and it’s one of the best 😂 https://t.co/LCdA2DTfOH
— Mahyar Tousi (@MahyarTousi) November 24, 2023
PETA President Ingrid Newkirk responded to the backlash over the post in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"The last laugh is on people who cannot read, because PETA did not say that turkeys are vegetarians—we said that they would not eat humans and we should show them the return courtesy," Newkirk wrote.
Newkirk has previously updated her will to include a request for her flesh to be cooked, and for her body parts to be transformed into activist messages post-mortem.
"I am deathly serious," Newkirk previously said in an interview with Fox News Digital about her post-mortem plans put into her will. She explained that she wanted her flesh to be cooked with onions specifically in a "human barbeque" after she dies in order to raise the point that "flesh is flesh," and how she believed no one should be eating animals.
"Turkeys are not vegetarians," according to the Community Note. "Turkeys eat mice, lizards, frogs, and just about anything they can fit in their mouth. If turkeys were larger or had the technological means to farm and eat humans, their current diet reveals they likely would." (iStock)
The artist who drew the original picture for PETA's post, who is called "The Vegan Rapper," also did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Fox News' Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.
Jeffrey Clark is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. He has previously served as a speechwriter for a cabinet secretary and as a Fulbright teacher in South Korea. Jeffrey graduated from the University of Iowa in 2019 with a degree in English and History.
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