WASHINGTON — Fake editions of The Washington Post claiming that President Donald Trump was leaving office were handed out Wednesday morning at multiple locations in Washington, D.C.
The print papers - which at a quick glance look strikingly similar to actual copies of The Post - were filled with anti-Trump stories, which also appeared on a website that mimicked the official Post site.
The Post's PR department released a statement on Twitter: "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. They are not Post products, and we are looking into this."
Under the headline "Unpresidented," the fake newspaper's lead story said that Trump had left a resignation message on a napkin in the Oval Office and left Washington for Yalta, the famous Crimean resort as the site of a meeting of Allied heads of state during World War II.
The false story also reported that his abrupt departure was prompted by "massive women-led protests" around the country, suggesting that the stunt is a promotion for the planned women's march on Saturday.
It wasn't immediately clear who was behind the fake website and newspaper, copies of which were being handed out at locations around Washington, including outside the White House and Union Station.
Liberal activist group Code Pink posted a video on Facebook of the organization's founder, Madea Benjamin, passing out copies of the paper at what appears to be a Capitol Hill office building.
In the video, Benjamin tells people, "The crisis is over - Trump has left the White House." Later, she adds, "You gotta believe in the Washington Post."
Benjamin did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
Code Pink has become well known in Washington for staging protests that disrupt Congressional hearings and other official proceedings.
It describes itself as "a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities." The name satirizes the George W. Bush administration's color-coded terror-threat alert system that has been phased out.
Liberal group MoveOn, which some on social media suspected of being behind the fake paper, tweeted that it was not responsible. "While we love the headline, we didn't produce today's satirical Washington Post."
