MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” was fooled Monday by a fake Twitter account, which the show used to claim that the North Korean government had come to the defense of embattled former reality TV star Donald Trump.
“There is someone coming to his [Trump’s] defense, though,” Bloomberg News’ Mark Halperin said. “The North Korean government.”
The “Morning Joe” panel proceeded to discuss a tweet from an account called DPRK News Service (@dprk_news), which read, “U.S. media in total disarray as venomous Fox News declares war on noted scholar Donald Trump.”
“Got the North Koreans,” Halperin laughed. “That’s a strong coalition.”
As it turns out, however, @dprk_news is a parody account. The Twitter account, which is meant to lampoon the already outlandish style of North Korea’s government-run news service, is run by members of the Popehat.com group, a libertarian-leaning law blog founded by former federal prosecutor Ken White.
Other tweets from this fake account include, “Hunchon University technologists increase production of celerys and winter fruits by ten percent. In U.S., many starve during harsh winter,” “Widespread errors of U.S. courts sentence thousands of innocents to prison each year, report finds” and “Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un gives field guidance to Pyongyang Italian Restaurant, regarding proper deployment of noodles and tomato sauce.”
MSNBC isn’t the only news group to fall victim to the @dprk_news joke: CNN, Fox News and Newsweek have all reported on the group’s fake tweets as if they were real news.
Following MSNBC’s obvious goof-up Monday morning, the @dprk_news account tweeted, “U.S. television stooge ‘Morning Joe’ sentenced by revolutionary tribunal in absentia. ‘Morning Joe’ will be pressed to death by heavy rocks!”
