Fact Check: Did Trump call himself ‘favorite president’ in a social media post to his followers?
WASHINGTON, DC: Amid tensions and pressure on President Donald Trump and his administration over rising gas prices, a rumor began circulating on social media platforms claiming to show a post by Trump slamming his followers for complaining about rising prices.
The claim sparked criticism and speculation, prompting a fact-check.
Claim: Trump calls himself ‘favorite president’
The rumor was triggered by a screenshot claiming to show a post by the president on his official Truth Social account.
The alleged post reads, “I am SICK & TIRED of my followers (now ‘EX’, I don't need you), whining about $4 gas (caused by Biden). My REAL followers will gladly pay a little more to support their favorite President (ME), and the great WAR against Iran."
"Let the Beta Dumocrats belly-ache about expensive food, medicines, and other Communist stuff. What we care about is VICTORY! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The post has garnered hundreds of thousands of likes as of this writing, with netizens debating its authenticity and prompting a verification of the claim.
Fact Check: False, Trump made no such post
However, the screenshot is fake, as the president has made no such post on his social media handles. A search for the text from the screenshot on his Truth Social account and other official handles did not yield any results.
Additional searches on Google to check whether he made any such remarks outside of social media also yielded no results. If true, such remarks would likely have been reported by prominent news media outlets.
The screenshot also contains errors, such as the number of likes. In one place, it mentions 11,000 likes, while directly underneath, it shows more than 8,000 likes.
Moreover, the account that posted the screenshot describes itself in its bio as a ‘parody’ account that has made similar fake posts for the sake of engagement.
Trump defends rising gas prices
The claim surfaced after Trump, on Friday, August 14, defended gas prices that had risen to $4 a gallon. “So, for you to pay a tiny little bit more for your gasoline, just remember, you're doing it so that a very evil country cannot have... a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.
“So remember that, when you have to pay a little bit more, your $4, it's okay. I mean, it's, I'm not, I'm not, I'll never apologize. I did the right thing,” he added.
