Trump’s Bogus 9/11 Claims Have Given Us the Delightful ‘Lost Trump History’ Meme - The Mary Sue
Trump’s Bogus 9/11 Claims Have Given Us the Delightful ‘Lost Trump History’ Meme - The Mary Sue |
| Trump’s Bogus 9/11 Claims Have Given Us the Delightful ‘Lost Trump History’ Meme - The Mary Sue Posted: 30 Jul 2019 11:39 AM PDT
Yesterday, President Donald Trump signed into law what may be the only positive act of his entire presidency: the promise of permanent financial aid to the first responders who were on the scene at 9/11. The bill passed in the House and Senate thanks in part to the noble efforts of the surviving first responders and former Daily Show host Jon Stewart, who delivered a blistering rebuke of the government's indifference during a congressional subcommittee hearing. But of course it's Donald Trump, so he had to make the bill signing all about himself. Trump said during his speech in the Rose Garden, "Many of those affected were firefighters, police officers and other first responders … And I was down there also. But I am not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there. I spent a lot of time down there with you." Trump's claims are unsubstantiated, but here's what we know he definitely did do post 9/11: Trump called in to Jersey's WWOR-TV to boast that his building was now the tallest in the city (not true). He also grifted $150,000 in federal recovery grants intended for small businesses, despite none of his properties sustaining damages. Classy.
In response to the president's lies, folks quickly took to social media to share other great moments in #LostTrumpHistory and the results were very entertaining:
But all jokes aside, has America ever had a president that lies more than Donald Trump? It seems that Trump can't go a single day without spewing some made-up nonsense that originated from his fettered brain, his corrupt administration, or the last segment he watched on Fox News. And the thing is, they're not even good lies. They are easily verifiable falsehoods, but what more can expect from a pathological liar whose administration coined the terms "fake news" and "alternative facts". Ugh, 2020 can't come soon enough. (via Twitter, image: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images) Want more stories like this? Become a subscriber and support the site! —The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—  |
| Posted: 09 Jul 2019 12:00 AM PDT A bizarre story emerged from video game culture and social media in July 2019, when a widely-shared tweet claimed that dozens of people had contracted herpes from drinking bathwater they purchased from the Instagram star Belle Delphine. The tweet was posted on July 7 by the @BakeRises account, which at that time bore the name "Daily Mail US" and the logo of the Daily Mail website as its profile picture, using the caption "Over 50 People Have Reportedly Contracted Herpes After Drinking Instagram Star, Belle Delphine's Bath Water":
Belle Delphine did appear, at least briefly, to have packaged and sold what she claimed was her own bathwater, but the "herpes" twist to the story was no more than a hoax. On July 1, Belle Delphine posted a photograph of herself to her four million Instagram followers, writing: "I am now selling my bath water for all you thirsty gamer boys. Check out my new shop where I'm selling stuff for you!! www.belledelphinestore.com":
BelleDelphineStore.com was a functioning website, and the listing for "GamerGirl Bathwater" indicated that small containers of some form of liquid were indeed on sale for $30 each, although the item was listed as "Out of stock" as of July 9. The description of the bathwater included a remarkable disclaimer: "Bottled while I'm playing in the bath. This really is bath water. Disclaimer: This water is not for drinking and should only be used for sentimental purposes." At least two YouTubers received delivery of the "GamerGirl Bathwater," both having posted videos about the product, although we can't confirm that the packages they received contained bathwater (as opposed to some other kind of water). The initiative attracted the attention of social media users and garnered news articles by Newsweek and U.K. tabloid newspaper the Mirror, among others. A few days later the @BakeRises account got in on the act, tweeting out the "herpes" hoax. @BakeRises confirmed that the herpes claim was a prank in a series of tweets that clarified the "Daily Mail US" handle was no more than impersonation, and that reveled in the prospect of forcing Belle Delphine to refute the rumor and causing unnecessary worry to someone who bought the bathwater. Between July 7 and July 9, @BakeRises intermittently tracked how their hoax tweet had caused the number of their followers to explode, while another tweet explicitly stated that "It seems the best way to grow on Twitter is to impersonate a company [the Daily Mail] and say things about a celebrity [Belle Delphine] that legally can be considered libel and I could potentially be sued for":
Belle Delphine herself refuted the hoax on Instagram, writing "You're a [clown] if you believed that" in response to a commenter who had repeated the "herpes" rumor.  |
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