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fabricated content manipulated content Poe's Law

No, Trump didn’t release a statement calling Pence ‘weak’

A screenshot of a fabricated statement attributed to former President Donald Trump calling former Vice President Mike Pence “weak” is being mistaken as authentic. But Trump never released such a statement. Let’s take a look at the facts.

A screenshot of a tweet that says “Trump doesn’t seem happy with Mike Pence right now.“ The tweet contains an image that appears to be a screenshot of a statement released by former President Donald Trump on “Save America” letterhead that calls former Vice President Mike Pence “weak.” The News Literacy Project added a label that says, “FAKE.”
Former President Donald Trump did not call former Vice President Mike Pence “weak” in a statement on Feb. 4.
This is a fabricated screenshot created to mimic the actual template Trump uses to release statements.
Trump did release a statement mentioning Pence on Feb. 4, but did not call him “weak.” Comedian Gabe Sanchez confirmed to Reuters Fact Check that he created the fake statement as a parody.
Trump did release a statement mentioning Pence on Feb. 4, but did not call him “weak.”
Comedian Gabe Sanchez confirmed to Reuters Fact Check that he created the fake statement as a parody.

NewsLit takeaway

NewsLit takeaway: Digital images are easy to doctor, and text elements are particularly simple to alter. It’s always a good idea to double-check the authenticity of images that contain text — especially screenshots that aren’t accompanied by a URL. This example also demonstrates Poe’s Law: A maxim of internet culture that says an unlabeled satirical comment or parody post can be easily mistaken for a sincere, legitimate comment.

Featured Fact-Checks

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