Fact Check

Scott Walker Posed in Lingerie on a Nazi Flag?

Rumor: Photograph shows a young Wisconsin governor Scott Walker posing in lingerie on a Nazi flag.

Published April 7, 2015

Claim:

Claim:   Photograph shows a young Wisconsin governor Scott Walker posing in women's lingerie on a Nazi flag.


PROBABLY FALSE


Example:   [Collected via e-mail, March 2015]


Is this a real picture taken of Wisconsin Gov Scott Walker? It is circulating FB.



 

Origins:  In April 2015, a photograph purportedly showing Scott Walker posing in women's lingerie atop a Nazi rug began circulating via social media along with the claim that the picture had been snapped during the Wisconsin governor's college days at Marquette University.

While the exact origins of the above-displayed photograph are unknown, there are several aspects of this rumor that ring false.

First of all, this image did not "mysteriously surface": It has been on the web since at least 2008 when it was posted to several Russian-language internet forums along with messages equating homosexuality with fascism. The photograph has also been used in "Demotivational Posters" and in a meme mocking grammar Nazis. It wasn't until April 2015 that Scott Walker's name became attached to the photograph.

It should also be noted that the image originated on Russian websites. While it is not impossible for a college photo of Scott Walker to make its way overseas before hitting the American web, that circumstance is highly unlikely.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that the man pictured in the photo is Scott Walker other than his bearing a passing resemblance to the Wisconsin Governor:

The claim that Scott Walker was "kicked out of school," as the viral image alleges, is also untrue. Walker attended Marquette University from the Fall of 1986 until the Spring of 1990. While it is true that he never graduated, the school released a statement in 2013 saying that Walker was in good standing when he voluntarily left the university:


Gov. Scott Walker was a student at Marquette from fall of 1986 until spring 1990 and was a senior in good standing when he voluntarily withdrew from Marquette.

Governor Walker was in good standing each term while he was enrolled at Marquette University and when he left Marquette University. Governor Walker was not expelled or suspended from the university at any time.


 

Although this photo does show a man posing in lingerie on a Nazi rug, that man is likely not Scott Walker.

Last updated:   7 April 2015

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.

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