On Wednesday afternoon, some newspapers circulated outside the White House were specific to the fake news. The papers resembled that The Washington Post and some other outlets. These were reportedly handed out by a woman near the Union Street subway station in Washington. It was showing a brooding image of Donald Trump with the main headline reading, “UNPRECEDENTED: Trump hastily departs White House, ending the crisis”.
The paper carried The Post’s emblem, featuring additional headlines like Celebrations break out worldwide as Trump era ends and Pres. Pence begins ‘clipped duck’ term”. Reporters and Twitter users shared images of the fake newspaper online. They described it as “pretty convincing at first glance” though clearly fictional upon closer inspection. An accompanying website had emerged showcasing stories by Wednesday afternoon regarding the supposed end to Trump’s presidency under the domain name My-washingtonpost.com.
The Washington Post’s public relations team said in a statement, “There are fake print editions of The Washington Post being distributed around downtown DC. We are aware of a website attempting to mimic The Posts. They are not Post products,” the statement continued, “and we are looking into this”. The newspapers were apparently circulated by MoveOn, a progressive organization and political action committee backing left-wing candidates for elected office. The group tweeted a photo of the papers, suggesting it had witnessed a staffer bring a copy into the White House. The fake news said, “On May 1, barely 6 months after the midterm elections, Donald Trump appears to have abandoned the White House and abdicated his role as president”.