In the “fake news” business nothing spreads misinformation quite as well as a ridiculous headline. They’re perfect for ginning up inquisitive clicks with the almost-money-back guarantee that the reader won’t get past the lede.
Just take the headline that appeared on the blog Real Time Politics Thursday: “Trump Shaking With Rage After Rachel Maddow Confirms All The ‘Golden Shower’ Rumors.”
Nothing in that headline is true. At all.
On her MSNBC show, Maddow explored the new book Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin’s War on America and the Election of Donald Trump. While walking through the famed dossier, the book explores the timeline surrounding Trump’s Russia trip in 2013 where the alleged micturition may have, shall we say, “dropped anchor.”
The timeline places the supposed splashdown as potentially taking place between 1:30 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. the morning Trump stayed at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow.
But the book offers no proof that this event took place and even quotes dossier author Christopher Steele as placing the likelihood it ever occured only at 50 percent.
So no, Maddow did not confirm the prostitute-piss-party and there is no evidence that Trump is “shaking with rage” over this fictitious incident.
TWS Fact Check would like to remind readers that this is not the first time we have refuted something Real Time Politics has reported.
If you have questions about this fact check, or would like to submit a request for another fact check, email Holmes Lybrand at [email protected] or the Weekly Standard at [email protected]. For details on TWS Fact Check, see our explainer here.
