Fake editions of the Washington Post with a large headline announcing Donald Trump’s departure from the White House were passed around Washington DC early Wednesday morning by a group of activists.
The paper, which was printed on a broadsheet eerily similar to the real Washington Post, was dated 1 May 2019 and included a series of anti-Trump and women empowerment stories. The stories and a PDF of the spoof newspaper were also published on a website that imitated the Washington Post’s homepage.
“Trickster activist collective” the Yes Men revealed they were the organization behind the prank newspaper later Wednesday following initial confusion on who was behind it.
MoveOn, a liberal activist group, was initially thought to be behind the fake newspaper, but the group denied involvement. “While we love the headline, we didn’t produce today’s satirical Washington Post,” the group wrote on Twitter. Women’s group Code Pink was also thought to be behind the distributions.
The Yes Men have conducted similar stunts before, passing out a satirical edition of the New York Times in 2008 with the headline “Iraq War Ends” and a similar fake edition of the New York Post in 2009 about climate change around New York City.
While Washington Post journalists have been reporting on the story, it is unclear whether it will take action against the group.
The newspaper’s public relations department tweeted: “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.”
The newspaper’s public relations team did not respond to the Guardian’s request for comment.
Long-time grassroots organizer LA Kauffman told the Guardian that she and fellow activist Onnesha Roychoudhuri directed the creation of the spoof newspaper. The idea sprouted from meetings and conversations with the Yes Men that began in spring 2018.
“It was designed as a creative intervention to help spread hope and joy,” Kauffman said. “The element of surprise was important for that goal.”
While under all-female fictional bylines, the paper’s stories are actually excerpts of writings from authors and activists such as George Lakey and Mark and Paul Engler, Kauffman said, who gave “enthusiastic permission” to the group to use their work.
Twelve people helped with the design and printing of the newspaper, while about 25 people distributed printed papers in DC, Kauffman said. Andy Bichlbaum, cofounder of the Yes Men, told Washington Post reporters that printing 25,000 papers cost $40,000, most of which was raised from the group’s mailing list.
Kauffman, who spent three hours helping to distribute the paper herself, said that there was a “lot of laughter, a lot of smiles” from those who were handed a copy. At least two people who identified themselves as White House staffers said they would bring the paper into the White House with them, Kauffman added.
Distributing actual fake newspapers during a time when the president calls media outlets like the Washington Post “fake news” may be a sensitive form of activism, but Kauffman said Trump’s comments on the media did not deter them.
“The fact that [Trump] has a steady drumbeat of attacks on fake news should not keep us from dreaming and imagining a different future, and using a vehicle of a newspaper to communicate that,” Kauffman said. “It is dreaming, it is not deception.”