A post hotly circulated on Facebook claims the country is in the control of Donald Trump and the military because Trump, less than a week before his successor’s inauguration, invoked something known as the Insurrection Act.
The Facebook user claims "a high-up and trusted military source" confirmed that Trump signed the law on Jan. 14, giving himself two more months as president; that the military extended that by two months to May 20; and "most likely extended again by the military who is now in control…. I am assured that he still is president."
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)
It’s a new take on a previously discredited claim. There’s no evidence Trump invoked the Insurrection Act. And he is not still president.
President Joe Biden’s inauguration occurred Jan. 20, and Trump stopped being president at noon that day.
The Insurrection Act, signed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1807, empowers the president, in limited circumstances, to deploy the military and federalize National Guard troops to suppress certain situations including civil disorder, insurrection or rebellion.
The act has been used to send the armed forces to quell civil disturbances a number of times during U.S. history. It was most recently invoked during the 1992 Los Angeles riots after four white police officers were acquitted in the roadside beating of a Black man, Rodney King.