Purported Donald Trump post criticising Elon Musk over X interview is parody
The X post was not posted by former President Trump, but by a parody account, which has since been suspended.
CLAIM
A screenshot of a purported X post by former President Donald Trump criticising billionaire Elon Musk over an interview on Musk’s platform X began to spread on social media following the interview which took place on August 13. In the post, Trump criticises Musk for asking him “rude questions,” refers to him as “Rocket Boy,” and chides him for allowing a hashtag on X calling Trump “Daffy Cuck” and allegedly mocking his voice during the interview.
BACKGROUND
The interview between Musk and Trump was conducted on X and was marred by technical glitches which caused it to be delayed by some 40 minutes. When the interview got underway, Trump’s voice appeared to sound different than usual, and the former president also appeared to speak with a slurred voice or a lisp.
The interview drew criticism from a number of news outlets, with some calling Trump’s performance “rambling” and one commentator called it “an unmitigated disaster.”
Not long after the interview, a number of social media users began reposting a screenshot of the purported X post by Trump.
On X, one user with 104,000 users reposted the screenshot with a caption saying: “TRUMP DISHES ELON MUSK FOR ASKING HIM ‘RUDE QUESTIONS’ IN X INTERVIEW TONIGHT.” At the time of writing, the repost had been viewed nearly 65,000 times, received more than 1,000 likes and had been reposted more than 500 times.
A later post with a different caption by the same X user was viewed nearly 180,000 times and reposted 850 times.
The screenshot of the purported post by Trump also began to spread on Facebook in the wake of the interview. One example was a journalist in Vietnam who chose to share it with her 5,000 followers.
METHOD
At a quick glance, the screenshot could appear to be of a an X post by Trump because of the profile picture and the account name but on inspection it turns out there are a number of factors that give away that it is, in fact, not.
If we begin at the bottom, the date says August 122. And further to the right it is even stated that it is a “Parody by Rub.”
Finally, the handle of the account is listed as @RealDonaldTramp, not @RealDonaldTrump, which is the handle of the former president.
Trying to look at the @RealDonaldTramp reveals that the account has been suspended for violating the X rules.
While it is not stated which of the rules were broken, it is likely the one under the “Authenticity section” regarding Misleading and Deceptive Identities.
RATING
The X post was not posted by former President Trump, but by a parody account, which has since been suspended.
SOURCES
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1823430600872878321 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
Greve, J.E. (2024). Trump revisits most divisive talking points in rambling interview with Musk. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/12/trump-elon-musk-interview [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
USA TODAY (2024). Trump rambles, slurs his way through Elon Musk interview. It was an unmitigated disaster. [online] USA TODAY. Available at: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/08/12/trump-musk-interview-x-twitter-spaces-disaster/74774628007/ [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: https://x.com/Fernand46357857/status/1823183199557603811 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: https://x.com/Fernand46357857/status/1823183199557603811 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: https://x.com/Fernand46357857/status/1823191232807391238 [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
Facebook.com. (2023). Facebook. [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/Tina.hagiang.me [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
Facebook.com. (2023). Tina Hà Giang – It seems crying baby Trump is already crying about… [online] Available at: https://www.facebook.com/Tina.hagiang.me/posts/pfbid0gyHPHwKmH5LPPkrQsaJznoDEAZMSDrdhp2Rfd2g1Jnjn9jiHfth6MQN3wiUo2osql [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: https://x.com/realdonaldtramp [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].
X.com. (2024). The X rules: safety, privacy, authenticity, and more. [online] Available at: https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/x-rules [Accessed 20 Aug. 2024].