Malcolm Roberts edits tweet after sharing satirical WEF video

What was claimed

A video shows a World Economic Forum (WEF) delegate telling the group’s founder Klaus Schwab to “go fuck himself”.

Our verdict

False. The prank video was created by a satirist.

An Australian senator has retweeted a video of a World Economic Forum delegate supposedly telling the global body’s founder to “go fuck himself”.

However, the video is a prank made by a self-described satirist and content creator.

One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts retweeted the prank clip (archived here) on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday, January 17, at 4.06pm.

The video features a tattooed man supposedly speaking at the WEF’s annual conference in Davos, Switzerland. After thanking the organisers for giving him a platform, the man’s demeanour shifts.

“Fuck you Klaus Schwab and fuck your new world order,” the supposed delegate says.

“Brilliant. Davos delegate telling Klaus Schwab to his face & in public to go f… himself,” Senator Roberts tweeted before warning his followers about “swearing in video”.

He added: “We will continue what we started years ago: calling out parasitic globalists.”

While some of the senator’s followers appeared to think the clip was genuine, many were quick to point out it was an attempt at satire.

“Who wants to tell him,” one X user wrote.

“It’s not real, Senator,” said another.

Just over 30 minutes after posting, Senator Roberts amended his post. But not before it had been viewed more than 11,000 times, according to X statistics.

“Fake video of Davos delegate telling Klaus Schwab to his face & in public to go f… himself,” the senator’s revised tweet begins.

“Comedian saying what most of the world is thinking.”

Asked for comment on why he sent the initial tweet, Senator Roberts told AAP FactCheck in a statement: “The video was humorous and I agree with the core message. Klaus Schwab is an enemy of Australian prosperity.”

The video’s creator Damon Imani is a self-described satirist who creates montages of videos involving public figures such as Joe Rogan and Elon Musk. He clearly labelled the WEF video as satire on his X post.

Senator Roberts was not the only social media user to promote the clip, with other examples here, here, here and here.

Monica Smit, who has been debunked by AAP FactCheck several times, posted the video before later apologising to followers as she didn’t intend to “get your hopes up for no reason”.

The annual WEF conference in Davos has become a major target for conspiracy theories and misinformation in recent years.

AAP FactCheck has debunked numerous claims about “globalist” conspiracies connected to the WEF, including here, here, here and here.

The verdict

The claim a video shows a World Economic Forum delegate telling the group’s founder Klaus Schwab to “go fuck himself” is false.

The video is an attempt at satire and was created by a content producer.

False — the claim is inaccurate.