GOP congressman claims some Palestinians are ‘paid actors’ pretending to be dead

Republican Florida Representative Cory Mills claimed that “paid actors” are pretending to be killed in Gaza under the bombardment from Israel following the 7 October attack by Hamas.

“What the mainstream media is saying about the indiscriminate fire and the actors — I mean you literally have paid actors who are pretending to be killed, pretending to be treated,” he said in Kissimmee outside Orlando on Saturday, where the Florida Freedom Summit was being hosted.

“So what I ask every individual as we already do here in America, educate yourself and find good, positive outsources and stop trusting mainstream media that corrupts the minds of every single American at home,” he added.

The baseless notion of paid actors being used to simulate real-world events to push a political objective has been used in rightwing circles in the past, notably by far-right broadcaster Alex Jones who was successfully sued by parents of victims of the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut school shooting after he falsely claimed the massacre was a hoax.

Last year, Mr Jones was ordered to pay almost a billion dollars to Sandy Hook families.