Fake Washington Post Newspaper Reports in 'May 2019'

Published January 17th, 2019 - 12:29 GMT
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An anonymous organization has distributed fake editions of the Washington Post around the capital on Wednesday morning suggesting President Donald Trump had resigned.

Suggesting Trump has resigned and the Vice President Mike Pence has sworn into office with the banner headline on the lead front page "Unpresidented. Trump hastily departs White House, ending crisis”, the disturbing fake copies were produced and widely distributed across the city.

Many Americans went to share photos of the copies they received on the internet.

Meanwhile, few have noticed the date put on the fake printed editions that points out to “May 1, 2019”.

The forged newspapers did not only have a fake headline, but they also contained fake stories inside. Some" of them read: "Celebrations break out worldwide as Trump era ends" and "From #MeToo to 'You're Fired’”.

The organization that was responsible of producing the fake newspaper has also launched a fake Washington Post website where more fake stories were shared.

In response, the Post announced on their official social media accounts that someone had produced fake newspaper editions and a website.

While it was not clear who was responsible behind it, many anti-Trump organizations were suspected. One is the liberal organization Code Pink which published a video on Facebook in which copies of the fake paper were seen handed out. "This just in! Handing out the Washington Post paper on Trump leaving the presidency,”.

A few hours later after the turmoil, a “trickster activist collective” called the Yes Men took credit for the paper, with a statement on their website saying it was created by authors Onnesha Roychoudhuri and L.A. Kauffman.

The group has described their hoax as a “satirical” joke, not “fake” news.

Between copyrights infringement accusations and criticism of the stories published in the newspaper, reactions to the fake newspaper were mixed.

Particularly as it comes in a time when the United States is suffering from a federal shutdown that has lasted for more than three weeks now, the longest in the US history.

Apparently, this is not the first time for the Washington Post to be faked. Many Twitter users went to remember when a fake printed editions of the Washington Post reported that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

 

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