Imran Khan’s picture with Richard Grenell is fake

A picture circulating on social media showing former prime minister Imran Khan with US official Richard Grenell is fake and has been altered.

This picture has been widely shared purportedly showing Imran Khan posing with Richard Grenell. The picture has been photo-shopped by affixing the picture on Imran Khan to show his connection with Grenell.

Here is the actual image:

Imran Khan has been imprisoned in Pakistan since August 2023. It is not possible for the Pakistani politician to have attended the Republican convention where Trump accepted his nomination as the US presidential candidate.

It can also be observed that the picture shows them wearing badges inscribed “RNC 2024”. This implies the actual picture was taken during the 2024 Republican National Convention (RNC) which was held from July 15-18, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

What happened?

Richard Grenell served as the former acting director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first presidential term, and has been picked as US presidential envoy for special missions.

In an X post on Nov. 26, Grenell posted “Released Imran Khan!”. In a second post, he said, “Watch Pakistan. Their Trump-like leader is in prison on phony charges … Stop the political prosecutions around the world!”

A day after being appointed, a Pakistani media outlet released a news story on their website in Urdu stating that Grenell was gay.

Richard Grenell tagged the news story on his appointment and again made a call for the release of the former prime minister, stating “I’ll say it again. Free Imran Khan.”

This create a controversy as PTI supporters lashed out at the report and expressed support for Grenell, while his adversaries claimed there has been a past connection between them.