Hailey Welch, the woman known online as the "hawk tuah" girl, has arguably become the most popular meme in recent memory. But, as is often the case, that viral attention has also been latched onto by conspiracy theorists.
Welch went viral on social media this month after appearing in a street interview where she was asked "what's one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time."
“Oh, you gotta give him that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang,” she replied.
Welch's response has since become a popular meme format, with many examples racking up millions of views on sites such as TikTok, Instagram, and X.
It didn't take long, however, for conspiracy theorists to decide that the meme's popularity couldn't have been organic. Instead, the claim has now been pushed that the hawk tuah girl must be linked to a psychological operation (psyop) on behalf of the government.
In a long-winded remark on Tuesday, Matt Wallace, a far-right content creator, alleged that the public was being deceived regarding Welch.
Among his claims, Wallace argued that Welch was a "victim of the CIA planted culture of sleeping with countless men and substance abuse normalization."
Wallace stressed that Welch was not part of the CIA, despite sharing an edited picture of the woman at the agency's headquarters, but that her viral attention had been fueled by a psyop.
"Don’t be mean to her, as this is not her fault," Wallace continued. "They are purposely filling our culture with degeneracy to keep the population controlled, weak, and unhappy."
Wallace even went as far as to publish a conspiratorial video to Rumble in which he showed more footage of Welch's interview. Despite attempting to cast the new footage as some sort of bombshell, the extended clip had already been posted to social media by the original interviewer of Welch.
In the Rumble video, Wallace suggests that the viral hawk tuah clip had been "deceptively edited" to hide other remarks made by Welch about her sexual history even though, once again, the extended interview was released by the interviewer himself.
In the clip, Welch also said that her main move with men was to not text them back, with Wallace insinuating the more graphic move was chosen in an attempt to go viral, which.... duh.
Incredibly, the Rumble video has since racked up over 100,000 views. But even Wallace's followers saw through the apparent attempt to conspiratorial frame the innocent clip.
"Matt you are making it an issue. She is a young girl clearly drunk, being silly," the top comment read. "Let it be. End of story."
"Not everything is a psyop," another said. "This girl is just a drunk that happened to go viral."
Over on X, Wallace's replies were largely filled with spam, a common occurrence in the era of Elon Musk's leadership.
Ultimately, Welch's popularity has come out on top. Not even conspiracy theorists can stop the hawk tuah sensation.
Since going viral, Welch has cashed in on her sudden fame by selling merchandise featuring her now-iconic phrase.
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