Trump Tweet Flagged as 'Manipulated Media'

Video added fake CNN headline to clip of toddlers
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 19, 2020 4:30 AM CDT
Twitter Flags Trump Tweet on 'Fake News'
President Trump looks at his phone during a roundtable with governors on the reopening of America's small businesses, in the State Dining Room of the White House, Thursday, June 18, 2020.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Twitter has flagged a tweet from President Trump that faked a news story to complain about fake news. The Thursday tweet—the third from the president to be flagged by Twitter—featured an edited version of a video clip that went viral last year, with two toddlers, one black and one white, hugging each other before running down a street, reports the Washington Post. The doctored version Trump shared added ominous music and a fake "Breaking News" CNN headline reading "Terrified Todler (sic) Runs From Racist Baby."

The video then showed the original clip and concluded with the words: "America is not the problem. Fake news is." Twitter flagged the tweet for being "manipulated media" and provided a link to an explanation of why it had been flagged, along with tweets showing how CNN had actually reported on the moment. "This tweet has been labeled per our synthetic and manipulated media policy to give people more context," a Twitter spokesperson tells the Hill. In recent weeks, Twitter has also flagged Trump tweets for making unsubstantiated claims about postal voting and for "glorifying violence" when calling for action against George Floyd protesters. (Snapchat has stopped promoting content from Trump.)

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