Fact Check: Did soldiers sarcastically yell 'For Epstein!' when saluting?

WASHINGTON, DC: In mid-March, a rumor circulated online claiming that US military officials were having problems stopping soldiers from sarcastically yelling "For Epstein!" when saluting.

The story went viral as the US government deployed thousands of troops to the Middle East amid its joint military campaign with Israel. But is there any truth to this rumor? Let us find out below.

Claim: Soldiers sarcastically yelled 'For Epstein!' when saluting

An X user wrote in a March 9 post, "Military officials are reportedly having problems getting the soldiers training for a potential Iranian invasion to stop sarcastically yelling, 'For Epstein!' every time they salute each other."

The claim spread across multiple social media platforms, garnering millions of views. A Threads user wrote, "Military officials are reportedly having problems getting the soldiers training for a potential Iranian invasion to stop sarcastically yelling, 'For Epstein!', every time they salute each other, and have likened it to the Gen Alpha '6-7' craze." 

Similarly, a Reddit post read, "US soldiers being deployed to fight the Israeli AIPAC’s war against Iran are saluting each other with, 'FOR EPSTEIN'." 

When the US and Israel started striking Iran in late February, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Donald Trump was embroiled in claims regarding his involvement with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Fact Check: False, the rumor is fictional

The claims made in the online posts are false, as there is no credible evidence to prove that any such incident took place, and the rumor was completely fictional.

 The rumor originated from a website that described the scenario about soldiers jokingly saluting to Epstein as satire, a parody of political news.

Moreover, searches on search engines, such as Google, showed no results or reports from any credible news outlet backing the rumor. If the rumor was true, it's likely journalists with reputable news outlets would have covered it. 

Furthermore, there would have been testimony from soldiers or others, claiming to have witnessed it on social media, but that was not the case.

The posts spreading the rumor stemmed from The Halfway Post, which first shared the claim on March 9. It is a well-known satire site, as noted on the platform's Medium About Page.

Moreover, the bio of The Halfway Post's X account reads, "Halfway true comedy and satire for your doomscrolling by @DashMacIntyre. I don't report the facts, I improve them."