Former President Donald Trump has been out of office for months, but that hasn't stopped him from continuing to spew deranged conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was "stolen" from him by Democrats engaging widespread election fraud.
Through unhinged statements issued through his spokeswoman, Trump insists that the election was "rigged" and seems to think Republican audits of swing states he lost will vindicate his claims, though there is no evidence that suggests this.
And while some of Trump's most devout supporters are under the collective delusion that he'll be reinstated in the coming months, President Joe Biden continues to govern, issuing executive orders, attending world leadership summits, and—most recently—met with the winning team of the Super Bowl, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Among the visitors was quarterback Tom Brady. In remarks at the White House, Brady alluded to the widespread belief that the Buccaneers wouldn't win the Super Bowl, given the team's underwhelming performances in past seasons.
In the process, he made a joke at Trump's expense.
Watch below.
Tom Brady jokes at White House: Many people didn't believe the Buccaneers could win the Super Bowl \u2014 and 40% "still don't think we won." \n\nBiden responds: "I understand that." \n\nhttps://www.axios.com/tom-brady-biden-white-house-2c41d55f-a839-4e26-86fc-82843ba93b84.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=sports-tombrady\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/yoWvjMRzB9— Axios (@Axios) 1626799532
Brady said:
"Not a lot of people think that we could have won. In fact, I think about 40 percent of people still don't think we won. You understand that, Mr. President?"
Biden agreed he knew what that was like, and shared a laugh with the players.
Given Trump's infamous grudges, people could only imagine how irate Trump was to hear the news, and one denizen of the internet even issued a fake "statement" from Trump.
It was so convincing, it had to be debunked by CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale.
This is a fake \u201cTrump statement\u201d starting to make the rounds. (The person who initially posted it made clear it was satire, but others haven\u2019t.)pic.twitter.com/wD5rFNdGga— Daniel Dale (@Daniel Dale) 1626813640
The fake statement read in part:
"Tom 'Shady' needs to do his research and realize how Rigged (and Rigged it was) the last election was. Maybe he was too busy Deflating balls (weak grip?) to follow what is happening all around our Great Country (including Maricopa County, Georgia and Pennsylvania). When I'm back in the White House we'll see who he jokes with (the answer is Me, your favorite 'President', if I even invite him). So much Voter Fraud!"
It's understandable why some would be fooled, as it features some of the most infamous characteristics of a Trump statement, down to its random capitalization, petty nicknames, and near-incoherent logical flow.
People found it highly convincing.
The creator nailed it so well he fooled me. https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1417585270908665858\u00a0\u2026— \ud835\udc84\ud835\udc89\ud835\udc93\ud835\udc8a\ud835\udc94\ud835\udc95\ud835\udc90\ud835\udc91\ud835\udc89\ud835\udc96\ud835\udc93\ud835\udc8a\ud835\udc90\ud835\udc96\ud835\udc94\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@\ud835\udc84\ud835\udc89\ud835\udc93\ud835\udc8a\ud835\udc94\ud835\udc95\ud835\udc90\ud835\udc91\ud835\udc89\ud835\udc96\ud835\udc93\ud835\udc8a\ud835\udc90\ud835\udc96\ud835\udc94\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1626885022
Seems real to mehttps://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1417585270908665858\u00a0\u2026— G Young its the F**kin\u2019 Catalina Wine Mixer (@G Young its the F**kin\u2019 Catalina Wine Mixer) 1626882031
The sad part is how hard it is to actually tell if this was fake just from reading ithttps://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1417585270908665858\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udf41 Fully-Vaxxed Fletchy\u2618 (@\ud83c\udf41 Fully-Vaxxed Fletchy\u2618) 1626833282
Yes, but the sad part is this could be true.https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1417585270908665858\u00a0\u2026— Sexton Hardcastle III (@Sexton Hardcastle III) 1626832193
It\u2019s literally impossible to to tell.https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1417585270908665858\u00a0\u2026— Srly Bstrd (@Srly Bstrd) 1626824810
Definitely thought this was real. Does that say more about him or me?https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1417585270908665858?s=20\u00a0\u2026— Riley Kelly (@Riley Kelly) 1626820281
People didn't hesitate to imagine Trump's reaction to Brady's trolling.
When I interviewed Trump in '16 he had a Brady jersey spread on his sofa that he mentioned at least twice. He's crushed.https://twitter.com/jonathanchait/status/1417535321403760642\u00a0\u2026— Joshua Green (@Joshua Green) 1626803424
If you know anything about Donald Trump, having Superbowl champion Tom Brady visit the White House and mock him is probably one of the most painful experiences of his life.pic.twitter.com/G7NSeVq3o7— Mark Elliott (@Mark Elliott) 1626802385
There aren't a lot of things I think could make Trump much angrier than Brady and Biden yukking it up together at his expense.https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1417514319978274819\u00a0\u2026— Matthew Gertz (@Matthew Gertz) 1626796825
Trump has yet to issue an official statement.