FACT-CHECK: Did 37 Candidates Running Against Mexico’s New President Claudia Sheinbaum All Get Assassinated?

Talk about a wild story!

I first saw this circulating around yesterday and I couldn’t believe it was true, so I had to do my own Fact-Checking….you know, the real kind that is actually concerned with Facts and not just pushing an agenda like the “Facebook Fact-Checkers”.

So I did and I’ll share the results with you in just a moment — might not be what you expect!

But first let’s take a moment to pause and realize Mexico just elected a woman President.

In fact, it’s Mexico’s first woman President, so that’s historic.

Not only that, but she’s also Jewish as you might surmise from the heavily Jewish name “Sheinbaum”….although she “plays down” her heritage:

I’m not making any value judgments on any of that, but I have to say I never would have expected Mexico to elect a Jewish Woman as their next President.

Or should I say “El Presidenté!”

Wait, or is that “La Presidente?”

Can someone educate me in the comments below?

Anyway, back to our story….

I never would have expected Mexico to elect a Jewish Woman as their next President…..and maybe they didn’t!  At least, that is, if reports of 37 other candidates being assassinated is accurate.

37!

Let that sink in.

So, is that true?

Well, I’ll start with Dom Lucre’s Tweet which is the first I saw of the news:

🔥🚨BREAKING: Mexico’s new President Claudia Sheinbaum is going viral for winning the ‘Mexican Presidential Hunger Games.’ President Sheinbaum won her election with the miracle of not being touched or targeted while 37 other candidates were assassinated.

She is considered the… pic.twitter.com/xJbFI8GmMw

— Dom Lucre | Breaker of Narratives (@dom_lucre) June 4, 2024

So is Dom just looking for attention and clicks?

Well, you can see he has a Community Note added there which we will get to in a minute, but the story is real in many respects.

Here is Yahoo News:

Claudia Sheinbaum was elected Mexico's first female president after a bloody election campaign that saw 37 candidates assassinated. https://t.co/9MQk36VyW2

— Yahoo Canada News (@YahooCanadaNews) June 3, 2024

Claudia Sheinbaum was elected as Mexico’s first female president Sunday following the deadliest election campaign in the country’s modern history.

More than three dozen candidates were assassinated, including a local government candidate in central Puebla state who was killed on Friday, increasing the total number of those killed to 37 ahead of Sunday’s vote, according to data from security consultancy Integralia obtained by Reuters.

Across the country, there were more than 20,000 positions to fill and 70,000 candidates vying for the spots.

🗳️ Why is this election so important?

One of the top issues in this year’s presidential contest was violent crime. Outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has had to account for a persistently high murder rate, with his opposition arguing for change.

Security analyst David Saucedo told the Associated Press that drug cartels will likely try to force voters to support their favored candidates.

Cartels are becoming increasingly dangerous — they’re now well-armed and politically influential. According to a report translated by NPR, more than 30,000 people are murdered each year in Mexico, compared to roughly 18,500 in the U.S. in 2023.

Ok, so now let’s examine the Community Note and see what they are saying:

Grok actually confirms this is true….

So let’s sum it all up….

Yes, it’s true that 37 candidates in the election were assassinated or killed, which is absolutely stunning in itself.  But none of those 37 were running for President, they were running for other offices.

So, is the headline true?

Not exactly.

And definitely not to suggest that La Presidenta Elect Claudia Sheinbaum had that killed.