Fake copies of Washington Post handed out in DC

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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 TrumpDonald John TrumpTrump directed Cohen to lie to Congress about plans to build Trump Tower in Moscow during 2016 campaign: report DC train system losing 0k per day during government shutdown Senate Republicans eye rules change to speed Trump nominees MORE'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.

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"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.

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.

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.

Updated: 1:05 p.m.

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