Missouri GOP candidate claims George Floyd died in 2016 -- and video showing him choked was a 'deep fake'

Winnie Heartstrong, a Republican candidate for Congress in Missouri's First Congressional District, is claiming that George Floyd was not actually killed by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, but instead died four years ago.

"George Floyd is dead! He died in 2016," Heartstrong wrote on Twitter earlier this month. "The images of George Floyd that we saw on camera on May 25, 2020 were created using deepfake technology -- digital composites of two or more real persons."

Heartstrong then links to a website called "Investigate Deep Fake Floyd" that claims to offer definitive "proof" that Floyd wasn't really killed by police, despite the fact that multiple witnesses, including the Minneapolis Police, said Floyd died on May 25th this year after Chauvin knelt on top of his neck for nearly nine minutes.

According to Ballotpedia, Heartstrong will face off in the Republican primary this August against candidate Anthony Rogers. Should she win, she would likely face incumbent Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO), who has received at least 70 percent of the vote in every congressional election he's been in since 2000.