Fact check: False claim Hillary Clinton endorsed eliminating cash to fight climate change

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
·3 min read
3

The claim: Hillary Clinton said, ‘It’s time to ban cash to fight climate change'

A Feb. 12 News Punch article claims former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took time on a recent trip to India to support moving to digital-only currencies.

"Hillary Clinton: ‘It’s Time to BAN Cash To Fight Climate Change,’" reads the article's headline.

The article was shared more than 9,000 times in 10 days, according to CrowdTangle, a social media analytics tool.

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Our rating: False

There is no evidence Clinton said she supported eliminating cash, and the Clinton Foundation said she didn't say any such thing. Her visit highlighted women’s health programs in India and the launch of a climate impact fund. There are no references to moving away from physical money in media coverage of the trip. The claim comes from a serial producer of misinformation.

India visit highlighted social programs, announced climate resilience fund

A spokesperson for the Clinton Foundation said it is “100% false” that the former secretary of state said she favored eliminating cash during her trip to India in early February.

The visit was made to highlight programs of the Clinton Global Initiative and announce a new $50 million climate fund.

Media coverage of the visit focused on the fund announcement and an appearance at the headquarters of the Self Employed Women’s Association, the largest women worker’s trade union in India.

There, Clinton noted that Indian women are the group most affected by heatwaves due to working in difficult conditions to support their families. Other coverage highlighted her thoughts about India’s potential to become a global leader in clean energy and the importance of students taking breaks from social media.

None of the coverage cited a reference to cryptocurrency, much less a statement about banning cash.

The News Punch article provided no evidence in support of the claim or any quotes of Clinton discussing cash or cryptocurrency.

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Digital currency is frequently the subject of misinformation. USA TODAY has previously debunked claims that the production of paper currency in the U.S. was discontinued and that President Joe Biden had ordered the implementation of a cash-free digital currency.

According to the Atlantic Council, the U.S. is among 114 countries that are exploring a central bank digital currency. Eleven countries have fully launched one and 17 are piloting digital currency.

News Punch is a frequent source of misinformation that has published fabricated stories on a number of topics. USA TODAY in recent months has debunked its claims that the U.S. government acknowledged 5G radiation causes COVID-19, that Bill Gates tweeted in support of adding vaccines to the food supply and that DuckDuckGo would "purge" all independent media from its search results.

USA TODAY reached out to News Punch for comment.

Lead Stories also debunked this claim.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: False claim Hillary Clinton proposed banning cash

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