NEW YORK – The internet fell for an outlandish joke on Twitter that claimed White House staffers created a TV channel consisting of nothing but gorillas fighting for President Donald Trump’s amusement.
Just before the release of ‘Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,’ a tell-all book about Trump’s first year in office, @pixelatedboat, a parody Twitter account posted a fake excerpt from the book that fooled a lot of people.
https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/949100087350710272
The Thursday post claims that during his first night in the White House, Trump complained his television was broken because it didn’t have “the gorilla channel.”
“Trump seemed to be under the impression that a TV channel existed that screened nothing but gorilla-based content, 24 hours a day,” the parody account tweeted.
In order to appease the president, the post said White House staffers edited footage from several documentaries to create a “makeshift” gorilla channel. The staffers were then able to broadcast the channel into Trump’s bedroom TV from “a hastily-constructed transmission tower on the South Lawn.”
However, Trump was “bored” with their efforts, complaining the gorillas were not fighting enough. So, the staff added more footage of gorillas fighting each other until the president was “satisfied.”
The post quotes a fake “insider” who said Trump spends 17 hours a day, four inches from the screen. “The way you hit that other gorilla was good,” Trump tells the gorillas on screen.
“I think he thinks the gorillas can hear him,” the fake source added.
The post was retweeted more than 17,000 times by Friday and many users seemed to actually believe the story.
https://twitter.com/cdelbrocco/status/949106248506634240
https://twitter.com/AthansChristi/status/949149093607034880
https://twitter.com/CGasparino/status/949117858063187968
Many cited the fake excerpt as a reason not to take Wolff’s new book seriously.
https://twitter.com/jangelooff/status/949359004693811200
https://twitter.com/GenePark/status/949336729865072640
While some were fooled, most tweeters immediately understood the story was a joke.
https://twitter.com/pbump/status/949344761839849474
https://twitter.com/BridgetPhetasy/status/949349300571488256
https://twitter.com/alaskarobotics/status/949370104856244224
https://twitter.com/DougExeter/status/949348023410163713
In order to clear up any confusion that his tweet was a parody, the original poster even changed the display name of his Twitter page to “the gorilla channel thing is a joke.” However, he did not think it would actually help.
https://twitter.com/pixelatedboat/status/949190327356637184
