American conspiracy theorists attempted to connect the Ever Given crisis to debunked, far-right conspiracy theory that former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was secretly caught up in a child-trafficking scheme.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent
WASHINGTON — In a comical predicament, the Panamanian-flagged Ever Given was swept up in a conspiracy theory that the vessel that ran aground while transiting through the Suez Canal was secretly carrying children being trafficked for Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and a shadowy network of powerful people.
While this normally wouldn’t be cutting-edge shipping industry news, the claims come from far-right conspiracy groups like QAnon.
In the United States, the QAnon movement is a social media-born phenomenon popular among individuals that align with the far-right political entities in the country.
Many outspoken supporters of former President Donald Trump (Clinton’s 2016 challenger) claim allegiance to this movement, which reportedly works to counter the so-called tyrannical forces of globalism. Rather, the movement has proven to be an exercise in mass manipulation and xenophobia.
Fact-checking website Snopes.com that “the Ever Given got stuck in the Suez Canal, blocking one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. As authorities began working on a way to dislodge the stuck ship, conspiracy theorists went to work spreading unfounded rumors claiming that the ship was being used by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a child-trafficking scheme.”
The website goes on: “The claim that Clinton is trafficking children via the stuck cargo ship is based on a pair of seemingly odd coincidences. First, the company that owns this ship is Evergreen Marine Corporation. According to journalist Ronald Kessler’s book “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect,” “Evergreen” was the name the Secret Service once used for Clinton.”
This was clearly false. In reality, the Ever Given was re-floated and salvaged. From there, the Suez Canal is now open.
