The Embassy of the United States in Colombo says the widely circulated dubbed video statement of the US State Department’s spokeswoman regarding the citizenship of SLPP’s presidential hopeful Gotabaya Rajapaksa is fake.

The spokeswoman of the US Embassy, Nancy VanHorn told Ada Derana that this video, which is currently being circulated in social media, is manipulated and distorted.

A dubbed video which allegedly contains a statement from the spokesperson of the US State Department was released to the social media today (15). VanHorn said the original statement was issued by the US State Department’s spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus on the 9th of July during a media briefing. This statement was fraudulently dubbed and released to social media platforms.

Drastic differences between the colours of the original video and the fake could be noticed.

In the meantime, Ada Derana contacted the US Department of Justice regarding an alleged press release on Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s citizenship, it was revealed that this statement is also manipulated.

This release is claimed to be issued by the US Department of Justice on the 11th of November. However, the Department pointed out that November 11th is a public holiday in the United States, hence the reason as to why such a letter could not have been issued by them.