Perhaps you’ve seen the “image” of Donald Trump, extending out a MAGA hat from the end of a rescue boat to save those deep in the floodwater.
A deplorable metaphor for the ages.
The original photo was taken in 2015 when much of central Texas was underwater after some serious flooding. The Austin Fire Department (which is clearly written on the side of the boat in the image) rescued one stranded person who clung to a chain link fence outside a high school football stadium. Donald Trump was not present. (In case you have trouble detecting poor photoshopping, neither were the other two kids on the left.)
New York Times tech writer Kevin Roose noted on Twitter that the image had been circulated over 275,000 times on Facebook. Facebook removed the image at some point on Monday afternoon.
A photoshopped picture depicting Trump rescuing people during Hurricane Florence has been shared 275,000 times on Facebook. The original is from Texas flooding in 2015. pic.twitter.com/woWuPuqSSy
— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) September 24, 2018
The fact-checking website Snopes caught the fake image last year after it propagated across the internet in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Unlike many photoshopped photos, Facebook users readily saw this for what it is: a joke. “This is the funniest thing I’ve seen all day!!!” one user said. “It’s a joke people, lighten up,” another commented.
Some, however, took the photo seriously but not literally.
Others seized the opportunity to add a new layer of conspiracy in the mix, subtly suggesting “that’s not Trump.”
The photo was posted last year, though it was brought back in circulation shortly after Hurricane Florence hit.
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