On June 2nd, the term “Houthi Rebels Attack US Aircraft Carrier Again” trended on the mainland China’s hot search list. Fueled by the official propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the internet was flooded with information claiming that American aircraft carriers had been bombed. However, these reports were confirmed to be fake news.
According to CCTV, on the evening of June 2nd, several channels including the Evening News and live broadcasts extensively covered the news of “Yemen’s Houthi Rebels claiming to strike against US aircraft carriers” and “Houthi Rebels Attack US Aircraft Carrier”.
It was reported that on the evening of June 1st local time, a spokesman for the Houthi Rebels in Yemen, Yahya Sare’a, stated that the rebels had launched a series of military operations against various targets. One of the operations targeted the USS Eisenhower, currently located in the northern Red Sea, with missile and drone attacks.
This marked the second attack by the Houthi Rebels on a US aircraft carrier within the past 24 hours. Additionally, another operation targeted a US destroyer, while the remaining four targeted other (civilian) ships violating the Houthi Rebels’ navigation restrictions to Israel.
Chinese state media such as China News Service, Global Times, and China National Radio’s Military Channel all echoed the above reports, inciting approval from the CCP’s online army.
However, the authenticity of the reports was questioned by the Associated Press, as the Houthi Rebels claimed the attacks on the USS Eisenhower with no evidence of missiles hitting the aircraft carrier.
On social media platform Weibo, Du Wenlong, a CCTV special commentator and one of the CCP’s first public relations experts in the military, posted a video on June 1st stating that whether the Houthi Rebels’ missile attack on the US aircraft carrier could hit or not was not important; what mattered was the attempt itself. He emphasized the symbolic significance of landing a blow on the US military.
Despite the CCP’s aggressive promotion, it was revealed that a video widely circulated by the Chinese online army portraying an aircraft carrier being bombed was actually a clip from a mainland Chinese gaming video, previously used to mislead internal audiences.
Another fabricated video segment depicted two helicopters fighting a fire on an American aircraft carrier. This footage was from an incident on July 12, 2020, when the USS Bonhomme Richard caught fire at the Naval Base San Diego in California.
Another video segment showing an exploding deck on an American aircraft carrier was originally from an incident on July 29, 1967, involving the USS Forrestal which experienced an explosion and subsequent fire while preparing for a bombing mission over North Vietnam.
Despite some praising the Houthi Rebels for their bravery, commentator Song Zhongping of Phoenix TV acknowledged that attacking US aircraft carriers is not an easy feat. According to US defense officials, there was no missile strike on the USS Eisenhower, and they were unaware of any missiles hitting near the aircraft carrier.