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.
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