Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Trump's Questionable Tribute To Aretha Franklin Is Lighting Twitter On Fire

President Donald Trump occasionally exhibits difficulty with keeping his facts straight.

Recently he got details from his past wrong when he spoke about the death of musical icon Aretha Franklin.


On August 16th, following the passing of the Queen of Soul, Donald Trump decided to begin his cabinet meeting with a tribute to her life.

But unlike former President Barack Obama's heartfelt and eloquent social media posts, the 45th President stated:

"I want to begin today by expressing my condolences to the family of a person I knew well. She worked for me on numerous occasions. She was terrific — Aretha Franklin."


Watch the President's remarks here:


According to Trump, Aretha Franklin "worked for [him] on numerous occasions". A frequent employee or hired entertainer may get to know their employer very well over the years.

There's only one problem. Trump's statement is not exactly true.

Internet sleuths and news agencies alike tried to substantiate that Donald Trump knew Aretha Franklin well and that she worked for him numerous times.

According to Snopes, the Queen of Soul was contracted on a few occasions to perform at Trump-owned properties, but she was never a direct employee of Donald Trump. There is also little evidence the two met more than once or twice—and only in passing—at functions they both attended or where Franklin performed, in the 1990s.

Only two events, both in the 90s, provided photo evidence that Trump and Franklin were ever in the same general vicinity at the same time.


Twitter could not handle the POTUS' perceived lack of "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" for the Queen.



















Trump or someone on his staff later tweeted this tribute on the President's official Twitter account.


H/T: AOL, MSNBC

More from People/donald-trump

Sabrina Carpenter
John Shearer/The Recording Academy/Getty Images

Video Of Sabrina Carpenter's Reaction To Losing All Six Grammys She Was Nominated For Has Fans Gutted For Her

Sabrina Carpenter has been in her winning era for the last few years, but it seems the Grammys did not get that memo this year.

Carpenter fans were excited and confident that the Man's Best Friend singer would take it all home when she was nominated in six categories for the evening, including Album of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Solo Pop Performance, and Best Music Video.

Keep ReadingShow less
Paul Mescal (left) and a young Paul McCartney (right) are shown side by side as fans react to Mescal’s striking resemblance.
Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Focus Features; Universal Images Group via Getty Images

People Can't Believe How Much Paul Mescal Looks Like Paul McCartney In First Look At New Beatles Biopics

Sony Pictures has unveiled the first official look at its ambitious project The Beatles — A Four-Film Cinematic Event, and fans are already doing double takes—especially when it comes to Paul Mescal’s striking transformation into a young Paul McCartney.

On Friday, the studio released images of Mescal, Joseph Quinn, Barry Keoghan, and Harris Dickinson portraying McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon, respectively, ahead of the films’ planned April 2028 release. Directed by Sam Mendes, the project will consist of four interconnected biopics, each told from the perspective of a different Beatle.

Keep ReadingShow less
Catherine O'Hara and Macaulay Culkin
Anna Webber/Variety/Getty Images

Macaulay Culkin Shares Heartbreaking Tribute To 'Mama' Catherine O'Hara After Her Death At 71

After learning that Catherine O'Hara tragically passed away at the age of 71, Macaulay Culkin may have said best what we've all been feeling since: that we thought we had more time.

Arguably one of Macaulay Culkin's biggest roles in his career was that of the young Kevin McCallister in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York alongside his on-screen mom, Catherine O'Hara, playing the part of Kate McCallister, who would do anything to reunite with her son... both times.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jason Thompson appears in screenshots from his Facebook post showing himself at a snow-covered USPS facility.
Screenshots via Jason Thompson / Facebook

Postal Worker Suspended After Calling Out USPS For Dangerous Working Conditions During Snowstorm

This past week, large portions of the Northeast were buried under two to three feet of snow, forcing businesses to close, schools to shut down, and mail service to slow—except, according to one Ohio postal worker, at his facility.

Jason Thompson, a Cincinnati mail carrier with more than two decades on the job, says he was suspended without pay after he raised safety concerns about working conditions during a historic winter storm that slammed the region January 24–25. The storm affected 24 states and more than 200 million people, bringing dangerous cold and record snowfall to the Cincinnati area.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ariana Grande on the red carpet of the Golden Globes
Monica Schipper / Staff/Getty Images

Ariana Grande Hilariously Reacts After Fans Notice Epic Photoshop Fail On Her 'Vogue' Cover

Even though Wicked: For Good ended up getting shut out at the upcoming Academy Awards, things are still going well for one of the film's stars, Ariana Grande.

This week, Grande graced the cover of Vogue Japan, sharing the glamorous pictures from the spread on her Instagram page:

Keep ReadingShow less