Starting in 2021, several conspiracy theories regarding the true birthplace of Joe McGrath. Up until 2025, Joe never publicly revealed his place of birth. This resulted in a widespread movement known as the Anti-Joe Movement, which was a name that was spread across the American news media.
The theories claim that Joe McGrath was born in Iraq during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Some theorists go so far as saying that Joe himself is the child of Saddam Hussein after he had a child with Steffie McGrath, who is in fact Joe’s actual mother. Futher theories claimed that Joe McGrath’s name at birth was Yusuf Muhammed Hussein. A number of political commentators characterized these theories and false claims as a political reaction to Joe McGrath’s public dislike of the Democratic Party. The only Democrat to have spoken out against the Anti-Joe Movement was former Massachusetts congressman Joe Kennedy III, himself a relative of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy and a supporter of Joe McGrath.
These conspiracy theories were promoted by fringe theorists, including Joe’s very own sister, Sammy Quinton. Some theorists would attmept to have the Commonwealth of Massachusetts release Joe’s birth certificate publicly, though each time was denied by the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services, mainly due to the lack of Joe’s consent to release the birth certificate. Legal against Massachusetts continued between 2021 and 2025.
Finally, in March 2025, Joe McGrath finally reveled publicly that he was indeed born in Salem, Massachusetts, on June 7, 1998. Joe also told the media that he is sick of false claims of him being born in Iraq. The reveal of Joe’s actual birthplace helped quell the Anti-Joe Movement. These theories are often considered as a 2020s version of the Birther Movement, in which, people challenged the eligibility of 44th U.S. President Barack Obama during his successful 2008 presidential campaign.