On April 29, a post circulated on Facebook claiming that Lasha Talakhadze, a member of the Georgian Dream and an Olympic champion, is leaving politics and returning to sports.
The circulated quote is fake and does not belong to Lasha Talakhadze. Talakhadze has never published such a post, and he confirmed in a comment to Myth Detector that the post is fake and he is not leaving politics.
The circulated Facebook post is fake. Lasha Talakhadze has not published any such statement on Facebook and has confirmed to Myth Detector that he does not plan to leave politics.
The same screenshot of the post was published on April 22 by a Facebook account called “Angry Dandelion.”
The Facebook user “Angry Dandelion” identifies himself as Tedo Abashidze and operates several accounts under this and other names (1,2,3). He is also likely linked to the account “Father Shalva Kekelia.” Fake quotes spread by “Angry Dandelion,” including from accounts under the names “Tea Abashidze” and “Nana Bitsadze,” have been fact-checked by Myth Detector multiple times.
Fake quotes attributed to Lasha Talakhadze have been circulated multiple times in the past.
- A fake quote claiming that Lasha Talakhadze does not identify as a “Homo sapiens”
- A fake quote claiming that Lasha Talakhadze referred to Bidzina Ivanishvili as the Messiah
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