Contrary to what you might have heard, President Donald Trump has not stepped down, despite headlines of fake copies of The Washington Post proclaiming otherwise.
The publication, dated May 1, 2019, stated: "UNPRESIDENTED: Trump hastily departs White House, ending crisis." A fake website included such headlines as "Celebrations break out worldwide as Trump era ends" and "From #MeToo to 'You're Fired."
People wish it was real.
Its existence prompted many to speak out and contact the Post's offices:
The fake publication was also accompanied by a fake email blast:
The Washington Post's PR account said its staff is "looking into" the fake newspaper.
The Yes Men, a group which identifies itself as a "trickster activist collective," took credit for producing the paper along with writer Onnesha Roychoudhuri and author L.A. Kauffman.
“The story this paper tells is more reasonable than our current reality,” Roychoudhuri said in a statement on the site. “And it’s anything but far-fetched. We’re already seeing unprecedented levels of protest and resistance. Now we just need to ask ourselves: What’s next? This paper offers a blueprint to help us reclaim our democracy.”
The Yes Men have certainly attracted significant attention not just from major news outlets but from protest groups like Code Pink, which posted a video of co-founder Medea Benjamin passing out the fake paper as well as photographs of people posing with their copies.
Benjamin told Politico she is "not at liberty to tell" who produced the paper, and she declined to identify other organizations that are distributing copies.
She said that the paper was "using" the Women's March, which is being held on Saturday, "as an opportunity to give a sense of our hopes and dreams to people participating in these marches over the weekend."
For what it's worth, The Washington Post has been a good sport about the whole thing, using the parody to advertise its sports coverage.
The White House has not yet commented on the parody paper.
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