Claim: Shahbaz Gill defended Richard Grenell and spoke against criticisms of Grenell based on his sexual orientation, saying it is a sign of ignorance to criticise him for his sexuality.
Fact: Siasat.pk officially denied ever publishing this image or recording this statement from Gill. Azhar Mashwani, PTI’s chief digital strategist also denied on Gill’s behalf that he ever gave such a statement.
On 17 December 2024, a social media user shared an image on X, which claimed to report a statement from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahbaz Gill:
آج کے دور میں کسی پر اس لیے تنقید کرنا کہ وہ ہم جنس پرست ہے جہالت ہے۔ رچرڈ گرینل ایک بہترین انسان ہے۔
[Translation: Criticising someone for being gay in this day and age is ignorant. Richard Grinnell is an excellent human being]
The image also included a photograph cutout of Shahbaz Gill and Richard Grenell, who was recently appointed as special missions envoy by Donald Trump, the US president-elect.
Richard Grenell’s Relevance in Pakistan
Soon after Grenell’s appointment, speculation arose about his possible inclination towards freeing PTI Chairman Imran Khan from prison. On 26 November, after the government and armed forces carried out a violent crackdown on PTI protesters in Islamabad, Grenell tweeted in favour of Imran Khan and against the political persecution of PTI’s members and supporters. Although the first tweet did not receive a lot of attention, it was amplified by PTI supporters when Grennel’s appointment as special missions envoy was announced on 15 December 2024.
Following the announcement, Geo News also published a tweet emphasising Grenell’s sexual orientation which was followed by another tweet by Grenell saying “Free Imran Khan”.
His tweets demanding that Imran Khan be freed have received over 25 million views.
Grenell has held several important positions including US representative to the United Nations. He has also served as the US ambassador to Germany and acted as special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations. His tweets have now led to speculation about the upcoming US administration’s inclination towards releasing Imran Khan from prison.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check thoroughly reviewed the website of Siasat.pk to find the article corresponding to this image, but we couldn’t find any statements from Shahbaz Gill on the subject of Richard Grenell, published on the website after 26 November 2024.
We also reached out to Azhar Mashwani, the chief digital strategist for PTI, to clarify whether Gill issued this statement to Siasat.pk.
He confirmed that politician Shahbaz Gill has not spoken to Siasat.pk about Richard Grenell and that he has not given any statement, endorsing Grenell, to the publication.
We also found this tweet published by Siasat.pk’s official X account, clarifying that they have not interviewed Shahbaz Gill on the subject or produced the image that is being circulated as evidence of a statement from Shahbaz Gill and that someone has misused their logo to create this image.
Virality
We found the claim shared on Facebook, here, here, here, and here.
On X, we found the claim shared here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Shahbaz Gill did not state Siasat.pk endorsing Richard Grenell.
—
Background image in cover photo: Brookings Institution
To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com