Fake copies of Washington Post handed out in DC
The Hill
By Brett Samuels - 01/16/19 11:32 AM EST
Activists in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday spread copies of fake newspapers made to look like The Washington Post that contained mock stories predicting President Trump's departure from office.
Social media users said copies, which bore a resemblance to the real Washington Post, were handed out near the White House, at Union Station and elsewhere in downtown Washington.
The Post put out a statement clarifying that the newspapers dedicated to criticizing Trump were not authentic.
"There are fake print editions of The Washington Post being distributed around downtown DC, and we are aware of a website attempting to mimic The Post’s," the news outlet said in a statement. "They are not Post products, and we are looking into this."
The front page headline read "Unpresidented," with an accompanying story describing Trump's removal from office. The date on the paper read May 1, 2019.
Images of the fake newspapers quickly spread on social media, with users describing the products as an accurate example of "fake news," the term Trump has used to describe The Washington Post and other news outlets whose coverage he deems unfavorable.
Quote:
Friend of mine said she was handed a FAKE @washingtonpost paper at Union Station this morning. Dated May 1, 2019. Said it was printed on real paper stock. Someone spent some coin producing this. pic.twitter.com/dDPWANm3U3
— Van Applegate (@vbagate) January 16, 2019
Quote:
This is quite scary. Fake news in print. At quick/first glance, you could easily mistake this for the actual Washington Post. https://t.co/WIQpNTt01O
— Kamahl Santamaria | Al Jazeera (@KamahlAJE) January 16, 2019
Quote:
.@washingtonpost you might want to deal with the lady handing out fake copies of the Post outside Union Station. I tried to explain why this is problematic but she wasn’t having it. pic.twitter.com/pjohcCFSx7
— Ian Kullgren (@IanKullgren) January 16, 2019
It's unclear where the fake products originated. The Washington Post reported that liberal group Code Pink posted a video on Facebook of its founder passing out copies of the inauthentic paper in D.C.Quote:
Actual #FakeNews being spread around D.C. today. People handing out these fake @washingtonpost papers justify it by pointing to the date on the papers. They say they’re allowed to dream. pic.twitter.com/xY0eyD98pl
— Mark Irons (@MarkIronsMedia) January 16, 2019
Medea Benjamin, the founder of Code Pink, said in a email to The Hill that the group is "just distributors" of the fictional newspapers. Activists handed out 10,000 copies across D.C., she said.
Benjamin did immediately not respond to a question about whose idea it was to produce the papers.
MoveOn, a progressive advocacy organization, also said it approved of the front page but was not responsible for the fake newspaper.
Quote:
While we love the headline, we didn't produce today's satirical Washington Post.
— MoveOn (@MoveOn) January 16, 2019
