A viral tweet picked up by several reporters purporting to show an exchange between Rudy Giuliani and Ivanka Trump ended up being a prank carried out by an Indiana college student.
It was reported Wednesday that Giuliani was filmed in an awkward and possibly inappropriate scene in the forthcoming Borat sequel, prompting Nick Roberts, vice president of Indiana’s College Democrats, to share a text exchange appearing to show a conversation between Giuliani and President Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump. The exchange was actually a conversation with his twin brother, according to Indianapolis Monthly.
“Is the rumor circulating true,” a text appearing to be from Ivanka Trump asked.
A text supposedly from Giuliani responded, “There is some truth to the story. I am waiting to speak to your father about it.”
Roberts’s satirical tweet was picked up by journalists who appeared to assume that the Indiana college student had tricked Giuliani into admitting some guilt, including MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Politico’s David Freedlander, USA Today’s Christian Schneider, and many others.
Verified journalists shared fabricated text messages written by @nickroberts, the VP of @CollegeDemsIN.
He has Guiliani’s number, he told me, but says this was a joke. “Most people knew it was fake initially but more national people picked up on it and didn’t question it.” pic.twitter.com/gVXsICVdB0
— Adam Wren (@adamwren) October 21, 2020
Roberts later admitted, “the conversation was between me and my brother.”
“I decided to delete my Rudy Giuliani parody tweet,” Roberts tweeted later. “I apologize to all who took seriously. I was surprised by the reaction given the lack of reaction to similar parody tweets in the past. I’ll make sure in the future to flag satire tweets which aren’t real.”
I decided to delete my Rudy Giuliani parody tweet. I apologize to all who took seriously. I was surprised by the reaction given the lack of reaction to similar parody tweets in the past. I’ll make sure in the future to flag satire tweets which aren’t real.
— Nick Roberts (@nickroberts317) October 21, 2020
“I’ve been trying to contact the higher-level people that put it out, telling them it’s fake,” Roberts said. “And thankfully, most people have taken heed of that. Regardless, I think most will thankfully think it’s funny, and I hope it put some enjoyment in people’s life and brought them a laugh or two.”
Roberts added that he understands why people would be concerned about spreading misinformation but argued he was posting satire in “harmless fun.”
Twitter did not immediately return the Washington Examiner’s request for comment as to whether or not Robert’s tweet violated any of the company’s policies.
